Mark my words: Donald J. Trump will be the most pro-black president in our lifetime.
Democrats have spent decades paying lip service to the black community while doing absolutely nothing to lift us up. It’s been all pandering with no progress.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s policies are bringing real, positive change to the lives of black Americans across the country — and we are taking note.
A Rasmussen report released last week revealed that President Trump’s support among black Americans has doubled in the last year to 29 percent. This is just the latest sign that our community is giving the President a second look as he continues to make good on his economic promises and works to implement long-overdue reforms.
Interestingly, it was just a week after President Trump’s election that BET founder Robert L. Johnson raised a very simple yet profound idea. “Why shouldn’t we, as black voters, reject the notion that we are locked into one party which undoubtedly limits and dilutes our voting power? We should, instead, use the power of our vote to support and elect whichever party that best serves our interests,” Johnson wrote.
Right now, that party is the GOP under President Trump’s leadership.
The proof is evident wherever you look.
In April, the black unemployment rate dropped to a historic low of 6.6 percent, followed by another record low of 5.9 percent in June, the first time in history it fell below 6 percent.
Meanwhile, the worker pay rate just hit its highest level since 2008, and the Trump administration is making every effort to ensure our community has the skills necessary to compete in the 21st century economy.
The Democrats want to shield these facts from the black community. Their bitter refusal to clap when President Trump touted historically low black unemployment during his State of the Union address should tell you everything you need to know about their motives. They would rather see President Trump fail than see blacks succeed.
But the reality is that millions of black Americans are now experiencing unprecedented prosperity and opportunity under President Trump. This new economic climate also means less government dependence, less crime, more social cohesion, and an overall improved quality of life.
Thankfully, the President’s vision for black America reaches far beyond our economic revival. It includes his bipartisan criminal justice reform initiatives, which aim to right the wrongs of mass incarceration. For far too long our young men have had their futures stolen from them for low-level drug offenses.
Last week, President Trump endorsed a prison reform compromise plan that Republicans hope will attract enough Democrats to pass in the Senate. The legislation would combine the First Step Act — a prison reform bill supported by President Trump and passed by the House in May — with four more bipartisan sentencing reform plans.
“We passed the First Step Act through the House, and we’re working with the Senate to pass that into law. And I think we’ll be able to do it,” President Trump said at the meeting.
The compromise bill would add to the First Step Act — which creates a way for prisoners to earn early release for good behavior and provides funds for expanded re-entry programs — new provisions that seek to put an end to mass incarceration and reduce mandatory minimum sentences.
Just as important, Donald Trump isn’t just giving new hope to black Americans through overdue economic and justice reforms, he’s correcting errors of the past and providing new opportunities that will benefit generations to come.
For far too long, we have been used as political pawns and taken for granted by the Democrats. Election after election, they have preyed on our hope and promised us change — but they never delivered.
For the first time in decades, we are seeing real, positive changes take hold throughout black America, and we refuse to let bitter, Trump-hating politicians tell us otherwise. It’s the Democrats’ worst nightmare: an empowered black community that will never again fall victim to their empty promises and false hope.
When Donald Trump said he would be the President for all Americans, he meant it. The black community today is a testament to that promise.
Herman Cain is former CEO of the National Restaurant Association and a former presidential candidate.
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