On the campaign trail last year, Donald Trump painted an extremely bleak picture with his pitch to people of color. His picture of life for minorities was Hobbesian – nasty, brutish and short. In Trump’s America, the residents of inner cities live in quiet desperation.
“Our government has failed our African American friends, our Hispanic friends and the people of our country,” he said. “The Democrats have failed completely in the inner cities. For those hurting the most who have been failed and failed by their politician-year after year, failure after failure, worse numbers after worse numbers. Poverty. Rejection. Horrible education. No Housing, no homes no ownership. Crime at levels that nobody has seen. You can go to war zones in countries that we are fighting and it’s safer than living in some of inner cities that are run by the Democrats.”
Fortunately, Trump’s perspective regarding the status of people of color is wildly inaccurate. Most African-Americans are living above the poverty line and outside of the inner city.
The most extraordinary element of Trump’s rhetoric and tone was that he treated black folks as the problem, rather than as a group of Americans willing to face challenges with courage, tenacity and resilience. Trump’s business acumen cannot overcome his ignorance.
His awkward outreach as a candidate and now as president echoes Ross Perot’s “You People” speech at the NAACP’s national convention in 1992. The only difference is Trump’s audience is made up of Whites.
How can he champion American economic prosperity for all when he is out of touch with African-Americans?
There are legitimate concerns for African-Americans. The unemployment rate for blacks is 7.9 percent, while the overall unemployment rate for the country is 4.4 percent. Meanwhile, too many black males aren’t finishing school, a crucial first step for job success. The national high-school graduation rate for African-American male students is 47 percent, 28 percentage points behind their white male counterparts.
The problem is not unique to blacks. Most communities of color face challenges in schools. Some students enter school already behind because of poverty or because they don’t speak English at home. Struggling minority students, who need our strongest teachers, often get teachers with less experience and fewer skills than those who teach white children. America needs its president to offer a real opportunity agenda, and it must begin with education. There is a real chance to students to succeed through school choice.
Some older people of color oppose charter schools and vouchers. Older African-Americans, in particular, recall not being allowed into school because of the color of their skin. For them, school choice means abandoning the endless blood, sweat and sacrifice of the civil rights movement. They recall the courage of the Little Rock Arkansas Nine who entered public school escorted by troops of the 101st Airborne Division of the Army.
But there’s a practical problem with defending the status quo. More than 60 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the integration of schools “with all deliberated speed” in Brown v. Board of Education, minorities are still fighting for access to the high-quality education their children deserve.
Americans generally believe in choice and competition. Yet, these two important principles are not a part of the public school system. School choice already exists for the wealthy and well-connected. Just ask former President Obama, who sent his daughters Sasha and Malia to Sidwell Friends, an exclusive private school.
As education leaders look to implement greater opportunities for choice, they can’t necessarily rely on the top of the education hierarchy for insightful leadership. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ experience is limited to her past philanthropy and some sizeable checks to President Trump.
He who starts behind the great race of life must run faster than the person ahead or forever remains behind. Americans normally might expect a president to articulate a vision to confront the challenges our society faces. These are not normal times. We cannot expect leadership from an administration that does not understand the struggles of working-class and underprivileged.
America must champion ability over birthright and talent over nepotism. Until some adults reassert control of our political leadership, we must find our own solutions in order fight for a brighter future. We must give all students the opportunity to attend schools at which they can excel, not just the failing schools that are all too common in neighborhoods whose residents are predominantly people of color.
Donavan Wilson is a writer based in Washington, D.C. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
