With the election over and Mr. Trump being sworn into office, many people are still in shock over his victory. Much of the African American community expressed outrage and disbelief once it became clear that Mr. Trump was going to be the Commander in Chief for the next four years, even though Mr. Trump spent a lot of effort in trying to convince the African American electorate to vote for him. With 88% of the black vote going for Hillary Clinton and only 12% to Mr. Trump, it seems that his effort fell flat. Here are a few figures on how the black vote broke down.
With a resounding majority clearly preferring the Democrat agenda, Mr. Trump has quite a challenge in making any type of inroads with black voters. On the campaign trail, he proposed a “new deal” for black America, which is a ten-point pledge on what he plans to do to for African Americans, as well plans to bring in influential leaders of the black community. Bob Johnson, the founder of BET, was one of the first to meet with Mr. Trump, and he said in an interview with CNBC:
“Trump is a business guy, and I think he’s going to tilt towards finding [a] way to use fiscal policy … to move the economy forward,” he said. “Let’s give him a shot. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt; see if we can find common ground.”
Mr. Trump also met with Steve Harvey, who stated:
“When I walked away, [I felt] there might be a real chance for some positive to come out of what many feel is doom and gloom.”
Both men received fierce backlash from the African American community for the meeting, showing just how much hostility and skepticism there is towards President Trump. While some of the criticism of Mr. Trump may be fair, much of it is not. Here is a clip of rapper Waka Flocka wiping his bare butt on a Trump jersey:
Something like the video above is an extreme reaction to the Trump presidency, but it gives insight into the mood of not only the black community, but a lot of the electorate. In the coming months, Mr. Trump will look to unite the nation, but overtures to minorities, especially, will be an uphill battle. He must fight the media, who has and will continue to paint him as a racist. Just this past weekend, a New York Times journalist claimed that Mr. Trump had gotten rid of the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office, which was incorrect. Even so, it still pushed the perception that Mr. Trump had no respect for civil rights. He will also have to persuade entrenched Democratic leaders, who will do everything they can to obstruct his vision of a better America. Finally, he will have to show the benefits of his economic policies to a community that may very well not have any interest in what he has to say, no matter what he does.