Trump’s Platinum Plan for Black America

Last Friday, the President unveiled his “platinum” economic plan for the black community.

During the event, held in Atlanta, Trump touted how his administration’s policies have already helped the black community, including criminal justice reform, the creation of economic opportunity zones and record low unemployment among African Americans before COVID-19.

The objectives of Trump’s plan are wide in scope and include the following:

• Create 3 million new jobs in the black community.
• Create 500,000 black-owned businesses.
• Increase the capital available to black communities by nearly $500 billion.
• Enable school choice and close failing schools.
• Make Juneteenth, the day that celebrates the emancipation of slaves, a national holiday.

The plan also includes healthcare initiatives to:

• Reduce healthcare costs and improve care for African Americans.
• Invest in finding cures for “diseases that disproportionately affect African American populations.”
• Grant religious freedom exemptions.

On the law and order front, the plan will:

• Keep black communities safe by working closely with police, community leaders and mental health professionals to develop and implement responsive, professional and accountable models of policing.
• Push for more reforms to end the cycle of incarceration, including increasing the use of drug rehabilitation and advancing second chance hiring opportunities for former prisoners.
• Declare the Ku Klux Klan and Antifa as domestic terrorist groups.

Some of the somewhat overlooked aspects of the plan are to:

• Examine alternative ways to build credit including rent, utilities and phone bills.
• Increase childcare tax credits and provide greater access to quality pre-school.
• Advance homeownership opportunities and enhance financial literacy in the black community.
• Examine barriers to employment, including fees, occupational licensing and arrest record inaccuracy and expungement.

Trump’s plan to propose a $500 billion initiative focused on a single demographic group is a deviation from typical Republican policy. Trump’s plan, however, is different from the typical government initiative. While partially relying on government involvement, it is a pro-free market, pro-business plan. Trump plans to use tax cuts and credits, better trade deals, job training programs, and investment in businesses to allow black communities to become more self-sufficient and prosperous, rather than relying on the government for assistance.

Many call this pandering or a ploy for votes, insisting that the President doesn’t really care about black communities. Granted it would not be unlike a politician to try to garner support through proposed initiatives, especially before an election. However, as RedState pointed out, does it really matter? Whether this is personally or politically motivated, the result is the same. Trump’s plan will benefit the black community.

Critics of Trump will point to his supposed racist and insensitive comments, such as claiming that Trump called white supremacists and Nazis “very fine people,” which is a blatant falsehood. President Trump’s actions speak far louder than the media’s words.

Many conservatives may balk at some aspects of this plan as it goes against their support for limited government involvement in the economy. Others may say that President Trump is dividing people based on race or creating a protected class of people. But he isn’t. Instead, he is recognizing the difficulties facing the black community that years of progressive policies have exacerbated. Trump’s plan is not to create more government dependence. It is to help create independence and prosperity.

Through these initiatives, Trump is seeking to build up communities through financial success, educational achievement, and respect for churches and religious freedom. Does the President care about black communities? I believe he does. Is the President trying to drum up African American support? Probably, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

The question isn’t whether his plan is based out of genuine concern or pandering, since it can be both. The question is, will his plan work? I believe it will because it grants greater economic opportunity based not on sustaining and increasing government dependency but rather on building self-sufficient communities that can flourish.