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TRUMP IS TRYING TO “GASLIGHT THE BLACK COMMUNITY” ABOUT HIS
RACIST RECORD  
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An interview with Clarence Lusane
July 17, 2024
Democracy Now
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_ Lusane says that “Donald Trump never has anything positive to say
about the Black community,” and that his effort to showcase
diversity at the RNC is to “gaslight the Black community.” _

This image, created by a radio host and his team using AI, is one of
dozens of fakes portraying black Trump supporters,

 

AMY GOODMAN: This is _Democracy Now!_, democracynow.org, “War,
Peace and the Presidency: Breaking with Convention.” I’m Amy
Goodman.

As the Republican National Convention enters its third day, we look
now at how Donald Trump is trying to increase his appeal with Black
voters. During the first presidential debate, Donald Trump slammed
President Biden for allowing migrants into the country, claiming
they’re taking, quote, “Black jobs.”

DONALD TRUMP: The fact is that his big kill on the Black people is
the millions of people that he’s allowed to come in through the
border. They’re taking Black jobs now. And it could be 18, it could
be 19, and even 20 million people. They’re taking Black jobs, and
they’re taking Hispanic jobs. And you haven’t seen it yet, but
you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our
history.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined right now by Howard University political
science professor Clarence Lusane. His latest book is titled _Twenty
Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial
Justice and Democracy_, also author of _The Black History of the
White House_. His piece
[[link removed]] in _The
Nation_ is headlined “Don’t Believe Trump When He Claims He’s
Not Racist: Trump does not deserve a single Black or Hispanic
vote. _Nada_. None.”

Professor Lusane, thanks for joining us again on _Democracy
Now!_ Can you talk about the point that he is making — we just had
a long discussion about immigration — President Trump pitting
Latinos, immigrants against African Americans in this country, and the
significance of this?

CLARENCE LUSANE: So, thank you for having me.

So, as your previous guest just pointed out, it’s important to know
that this idea of a replacement theory, that whites are being
threatened by these cultural invaders, is something that the Donald
Trump wing of the party has been using ever since Donald Trump stepped
onto the national stage.

The article
[[link removed]] I
wrote in _The Nation_ was to point out that we don’t have to
memory hole what Donald Trump’s history of racism has been, but,
more importantly, also who has supported Donald Trump. Ever since he
stepped onto the stage, every avowed racist in the country — Ku Klux
Klaners, neo-Nazis, avowed fascists — have backed Donald Trump. And
he’s been able to get away with that kind of support, because in
many ways the media has evaded questioning him about that.

But this has become the way in which the Republican Party in 2024, a
party of grievance, extremism and racism, operates and functions. And
so, it’s really critical to not let this memory be lost of Donald
Trump’s policies and behavior over the last number of years, and how
that has permeated the Republican Party.

AMY GOODMAN: As you point out, in a recent interview
[[link removed]] in _Time_ magazine,
Trump suggested the problem was really anti-white racism. “If you
look right now, there’s absolutely a bias against white [people] and
that’s a problem,” Trump said. Your response, Professor Lusane?

CLARENCE LUSANE: So, Trump again is leaning in to his base. And what
the data is showing is that for at least the last 10 years or so, if
not even before then, that a majority of whites, and particularly
Republican voters, believe that racism in this country exists against
white people, that Black people, that Latinos, that Asians basically
do not have issues with institutional or systemic racism, but it’s
actually whites that are being targeted.

And this isn’t just kind of rhetoric. This is actually manifesting
itself both in the Republican Party platform and Republican Party
activists. Stephen Miller, for example, who your earlier guest
referenced, heads up America First Legal. Its entire purpose is to go
after what they argue are racism, racist attacks against whites. So,
America First Legal has filed lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit
against private sector entities that they claim are discriminating
particularly against white males.

And so, when Donald Trump says that anti-white racism is actually a
thing, he is very serious that his second administration, if he comes
to power, will operate on that. He has pledged, for example, that he
will end every DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — program
that exists anywhere in the federal government. Now, that’s not just
talking about specific programs about diversity; that’s talking
about any effort in any branch of government to recognize that there
needs to be inclusive hiring, there needs to be inclusive policies.
So, this is a very real tactic on the part of Donald Trump.

The problem is that it actually conflicts with what they’re trying
to do and win Black voters. Donald Trump recognizes that in the swing
states — in Georgia, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania, in Wisconsin, in
all of these key battleground states — the Black vote has been
extremely decisive in helping the Democrats. So, they have to figure
out a way to either drive down the vote for the Democrats or, if
possible, if they can win votes. But that’s very difficult to do,
given Donald Trump’s record and history.

AMY GOODMAN: On Monday, _Democracy Now!_’s Renée Feltz was on
the floor of the convention. She spoke to a man wearing a large cowboy
hat who was attending the RNC with members of the Florida
delegation.

LARRY WILCOXSON: Larry Wilcoxson, from Florida.

RENÉE FELTZ: And are you here as part of the delegation?

LARRY WILCOXSON: I’m just here.

RENÉE FELTZ: All right. Can you say a little bit about why you’re
here?

LARRY WILCOXSON: I’m here to support the president, Donald J.
Trump. That’s the only reason why I’ll come here.

RENÉE FELTZ: It sounded like he might have even been talking to
people like you, his supporters, when he spoke about preserving Black
jobs. Can you talk about, you know, what that might have meant to you?
And what’s the difference between Black jobs and other jobs, for
example?

LARRY WILCOXSON: See, I think a lot of stuff be taken out of
context. And what he mean was just mid-level jobs. I mean, and
that’s just the truth, mid-level jobs as far as, like, trades. Those
are mid-level jobs to me. And so, that’s what he meant. And, yes, a
lot of illegals are coming over here, a lot of migrants coming over
here, and that’s the jobs they’re getting, because a lot of our
own employees’ employers, they’re hiring those individuals for
cheaper wages. And that’s just the truth.

AMY GOODMAN: Your response, Professor Clarence Lusane?

CLARENCE LUSANE: So, when Donald Trump refers to “the Black
people” and he refers to “Black jobs,” what he said is that his
view of where Black people fit in this country, in employment, in
culture and otherwise, is always at the bottom. Donald Trump never has
anything positive to say about the Black community. He never talks
about Black doctors, for example, or Black engineers or Black
accountants or Black people who are in many, many different
professions up and down the spectrum of employment. He essentially
sees, through racist-tinted eyes, Black people at the very, very
bottom. And that’s how he sees immigrants, or, to be more precise,
immigrants of color. And so, that’s the conflict that he’s trying
to pitch.

But what the data shows, of course, what the Department of Labor
shows, is that in every single area of occupation, you have Black
people, you have Latinos, you have Asians, kind of across the
spectrum. And so, Donald Trump, though, feeds into this narrative
among conservatives that there are categories of work for certain
people, and that that is how he then seeds attacking immigrants and
creating, again, this conflict between the Black community and the
immigrant community.

AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday night, _Democracy Now!_’s Messiah Rhodes
caught up with Forgiato Blow, a pro-Trump rapper, who debuted his
video, “Trump Trump Baby,” featuring Amber Rose, at the RNC, a
day after she spoke. This is what he said to Messiah.

FORGIATO BLOW: I’ve been supporting Trump, like, die-hard since
2015. Before that, I was with Rick Ross, French Montana, a lot of
big-name rappers, had a lot of big-name songs, so I was already very
successful in that side of the industry, you know, grinding my way in.

But Donald Trump was like the boss. You know what I mean? He’s
getting money. He’s a rapper’s dream, you know? He’s out here
now dodging bullets, getting indictments. He’s a real rapper.

But, you know, back in 2016, when he came in, it was just about
proving people wrong. That’s one thing I’m big on. Nobody believed
that he would be the president. He knocked that door down, right?

He’s very successful. He’s made a lot of money. He’s got the
beautiful wife, nice cars. So, it was just, you know, being young,
trying to chase that dream and be like Trump — you know what I’m
saying? — and just have a positive role model to look up to. …

And even though at one time we didn’t see eye to eye, I could bring
you in. Amber Rose, she spoke yesterday. She’s a model. She was big
against Trump for years. I have a new video that just came out with
her, a song called “Trump Trump Baby.” She’s on the song. It’s
number eight on _Billboard_ right now.

But the thing is, a lot of people don’t realize, like, we need new
voters. Right? So, when these people — like, you know, we’re out
here making all this content for Donald Trump and, you know, trying to
sell Donald Trump on people, and they’re not buying it, and then,
when they finally buy it five years later, and we’re like, “Boo!
You can’t do it,” that hurts us. We need to get the new voters. We
need new voters and to get people equal opportunity.

AMY GOODMAN: Soon after they spoke, rapper Forgiato Blow and Amber
Rose took the stage of the RNC.

FORGIATO BLOW: Yeah, it’s the mayor of Magaville, baby! Amber
Rose! Hey, you know who we voting for! We voting Donald Trump, baby.
Donald Trump, baby. America needs saving. America needs saving! We
voting Trump, Trump, baby. Trump, Trump, baby. November 5th we going
crazy. November 5th we going crazy!

AMY GOODMAN: That’s rapper Forgiato Blow and Amber Rose, “Trump
Trump Baby.” Professor Clarence Lusane, your response to the appeal
that President Trump is making right now and what rapper Forgiato Blow
is saying?

CLARENCE LUSANE: So, what we see with Forgiato Blow and Amber Rose,
as well as the Black congressmembers, Republican congressmembers, that
they’re bringing on stage is this effort to basically gaslight the
Black community on what really has been the Donald Trump record. And
so, what we see is this argument that the Democrats have for decades
created the circumstances under which Black people are living in the
worst conditions possible, and that somehow Donald Trump will be able
to overcome that, although there’s literally no record of that.

Tim Scott, for example, who’s the senator from South Carolina, gave
a speech on Monday where he argued that racism — America is not a
racist country, that, essentially, racial discrimination, systemic and
institutional, don’t exist. In fact, Tim Scott should look at his
own state, South Carolina. South Carolina is one of the poorest states
in the country, as are many of the states that are controlled by the
Republican Party. In South Carolina, the governor is Republican. The
two senators to the Congress are Republicans. Six out of the seven
House members are Republican, James Clyburn being the exception. The
state Legislature, controlled by Republicans. And what we see is this
is a state where poverty is high, is above the national average. But
then, when you break it down, about 9% to 10% of whites in the state
fall under that poverty line, but almost 25%, almost a quarter, of
Black people. How do you explain that? Tim Scott explains it by saying
that, essentially, it’s those people’s fault. It has nothing to do
with the policies of the state, has nothing to do with systemic
racism.

But we’re talking generations of ways in which people, again, across
these Republican states have been mired in poverty, and, again,
disproportionately racialized. And if you look at educational
attainment, you look at access to healthcare, in all of these
situations, racial disparities tend to manifest. But none of this is
being addressed by the Tim Scotts, the Ben Carsons, the Amber Roses
and the other people of color that they’re putting on stage at the
Republican convention, because those are inconvenient truths.

AMY GOODMAN: Clarence Lusane, I want to thank you for being with us,
political science professor at Howard University, director of the
International Affairs Program there. His piece
[[link removed]] in _The
Nation_, we’ll link to, headlined “Don’t Believe Trump When He
Claims He’s Not Racist.”

* Trump
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* Racism
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* Black voters
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* False Promise
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