In 1989, the horrific rape and beating of a female jogger in New York’s Central Park rocked the city and the nation when news of the attack broke. Five Black teens ranging in age from 14-16 were arrested in connection to the crime. At the time, Donald Trump spent $85K placing full-page ads in New York’s for leading newspapers calling for the Black teens to be executed. The men are Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson and Kharey Wise and now forever known as the Central Park 5. The prison sentences for the teens ranged from 7 to 17 years as they maintained they were coerced into confessing. In 2002, they were acquitted of the charges as new DNA evidence proved they could not have been the attackers. The city eventually settled a lawsuit with the men for $40M. Despite their acquittal, now Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will not acknowledge their innocence.
Trump is racist and misogynistic. He incites political violence, religious hatred and is a detriment to America and the constitutional process. He waited until the end of the election to release any type of firm policy statements. He’s mocked the disabled and admitted to the fact that his company did not rent to Blacks and was sued by the federal government. He’s called for a foreign government to hack American servers. Trump has also stated that if he loses the election, he may not accept the election results. He stated to the American public, “I will keep you in suspense.”
If you are Black and voting for Trump, you are cosigning the devaluation of Black life in America and the continued promise of injustice. As a Black person voting for Trump, you are like a Jewish person in the Weimar Republic voting for Hitler because of his promise of change. However, many Black Trump supporters are still negating these facts and criticism has hit a nerve among this group because of pride. In the hit movie Pulp Fiction erstwhile villain Marcellus Wallace, played by Ving Rhames, made this statement about pride, “The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That’s pride f—ing with you. F–k pride. Pride only hurts; it never helps.”
