Black Americans overwhelmingly opposed Donald Trump in the election, especially black women, fearing the media narrative that he’s racist and sexist. After four months, however, some leaders of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are praising him as better than Obama.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that Trump’s commitment to HBCUs had outpaced other previous administrations. “In the first four months of this presidency, the Trump administration has been far more responsive to our community than the past administration,” Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. “I, for one, judge people by what they do — not what they say.”
Taylor was especially welcoming of some of Trump’s education reforms including the expansion of Pell Grants and his refusal to cut funding for HBCUs in his budget, which slashed the Dept. of Education by 13 percent.
While the HBCU administrators and deans are pleasantly surprised, there’s still a lot more work to do for this President and his administration to build trust within the black community.
