With his executive order embarking upon a historic path to meaningful and lasting police reform, President Trump did in 40 minutes what Joe Biden failed to do in 40 years in office.
Trump’s executive order implements credentialing and certification standards to incentivize the research, development, and adoption of best practices on the use of force. And it provides resources to allow mental health and addiction experts to act as co-responders and to help officers manage complex encounters.
What this order achieves is made even more important when compared to the Left’s crusade to defund the police. Trump brought all stakeholders to the table to address concerns while supporting police officers, not vilifying them.
Without a police force, our communities would descend into chaos. For our most distressed communities, security and stability are crucial for the uplift of the entire community. We cannot have economic empowerment without law and order. Trump knows this better than anyone. He has been a builder of communities and people for decades.
His goal is the same as all our community leaders — justice for those who have been wronged and economic opportunities for all. Police reform is a cornerstone of this goal, as a safe community is the foundation for building something that uplifts all.
Police reform is just one aspect of Trump’s approach to uplifting all. School choice is also ensuring that no child’s future success is defined by current income or their ZIP code. Funding for historically black colleges and universities opens up the highest levels of our education system for black people to achieve the American dream. Opportunity zones encourage economic growth in disadvantaged communities that have long been forgotten. Trump has worked hard to ensure that all are on equal footing and that no one is left behind.
Before the coronavirus hit, black unemployment was at a record low, and the economy is now once again rebounding at a historic rate. Last month saw 2.5 million jobs added to the economy, jobs that benefit people of every color and creed. A rebounding economy, combined with Trump’s new reform, will ensure a prosperous future for all.
Trump listened to black leaders, to law enforcement officers, and to those who have lost loved ones in tragedies that should have never occurred. His executive order ensures that our law enforcement officers have the necessary resources to change their culture while also empowering them to be the defenders of the peace.
He is using every tool at his disposal to make real change in this nation.
Meanwhile, Biden is hiding in his basement safe space, stoking the flames of hate. While Trump is meeting with those who have been personally touched by today’s injustices, Biden is calling on us to strip our law enforcement of important funding. This is detrimental to black people across the nation. Real change is needed, but that change cannot involve abandoning the officers who risk life and limb to ensure our safety.
Trump is showing us what bipartisan reform can accomplish, and that is peace and prosperity for all.
T.W. Shannon served as the youngest speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2013 at 34 years old, the first Chickasaw and first African American to hold the post. He is the CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank.
