President Trump warned that the National Guard might be sent to other cities. The black mayors of those cities vow to push back.
DC Mayor responds to Trump’s plan to control city police
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called President Trump’s acquisition of DC police “uncertain” and “unprecedented.”
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and this other California official are dealing with a warning from President Donald Trump that he may send the National Guard there more than just a comment.
They are prepared for the fight.
Lee and other black mayors, along with civil rights activists and lawmakers across the country, are increasingly concerned that Trump will portray single cities such as Oakland, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. They are all led by black mayors, and all of those leaders are Democrats.
Van R. Johnson, president of the African American Mayors’ Association and mayor of Savannah, Georgia, said: “That’s not right. It’s not fair. I want the federal government to work with us. We’re just calling.”
Rep. Yvette Clark, chairman of the New York State Legislature, called the Trump acquisition of DC’s “blatantly racist and sleazy power grabs.”
“It won’t stop in Washington, DC,” she said in a statement. “The interests are high not only in Washington, D.C., but also in the future of democracy in every corner of the country.”
Trump used presidential forces to take over police in Washington, D.C. in early August, and he has been ramping up the crime sue, and authorities have not done enough to deal with it – despite statistics showing that crime in the district is 30 years low.
Trump also threatened to deploy National Guard to help fight crime in other communities.
“We’re going to reclaim the capital,” Trump said on August 11th. “And we’ll see other cities too.”
He called it “historical action to save our country’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedram, demons, and more.”
Different visions to tackle urban issues
White House officials claim that the country’s capital is filthy and that Trump saw it firsthand.
In March, Trump signed an executive order entitled “Make the Columbia District safe and beautiful.”
“If Democrats had common sense, they’ll continue to follow President Trump’s crackdown on violent crimes that have plagued our nation’s capital and Democrat-run cities around the country,” White House Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers said in an email to USA Today. “Instead of criticizing President Trump’s popular, harsh crime policies, they should focus on cleaning up their own cities, some of America’s most dangerous places.”
Although many big cities are run by Democrats, both violent and property crimes have declined nationwide in recent years, federal data shows.
Civil rights leaders criticized Trump for portraying cities, particularly cities led by black mayors, as if they were on the verge of crime.
“Drawing the false picture of the city’s largest black majority city led by a black mayor is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing strategy to exploit racial mistrust in political interests,” said National Urban League President Mark Morial and Washington Urban League President George Lambert in a statement.
If Trump really wants to help the city, several mayors argued that he would not cut funds for poverty countermeasures programs and community police efforts.
“This federal government should invest in cities like Oakland instead of investing in us,” said Lee, who spent 27 years in Congress, including Trump’s first term. “If you want to see cities thrive as well as survive, it doesn’t make sense what this government is doing.”
“Reasonable people can see the optics.”
Trump has not yet publicly cultivated race in his criticism of those cities, but experts point to a history of his racially lightly remarkable statements, including his first term, which questions why America takes people from Haiti and some countries in Africa. Trump is also called Baltimore, a predominantly black city, and is known as “a disgusting, rats, rodent-infected chaos.”
Jason Williams, a professor of justice studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey, said the president had not specifically mentioned race at the time or recent references, but that was clearly hinted at. Williams said urban centres are historically codes for talking about black people and communities of color.
“He doesn’t necessarily have to say that to know what it means,” Williams said. “It gives him plausible negativity. I don’t think this president would care.”
Lee of Oakland told USA Today that Trump’s actions found “fear and appropriation.”
“A lot of what he does is cause anxiety and it gives him an excuse, so we need to be ready and ready to fight,” she said.
Oakland has a contingency plan if Trump tries to send National Guard, Lee added. When asked if she could provide details, the mayor replied, “I’m not free to do that now. It’s inappropriate at this point.”
In DC, Trump justified his actions by citing a recent one-night attack in Los Angeles with former federal officials, and he called on the National Guard to quell the civil protests spurred by the crackdown on offensive immigrants. He may use other isolated cases to target other metropolitan cities, said Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy at Vera Judicial Institute, a nonprofit focused on criminal justice.
“It’s the lean meat that Trump uses to crush the maga base and is only effective as a bait when it remains unchecked,” Rahman said.
“We were here before.”
Federal authorities sometimes use their power to undermine black city leadership, portraying them as incompetent or prone to crime, Williams said. He pointed to examples such as city renewals in the 1960s and 1970s., When the government dismantled its postwar profits.
“We were previously here on federal overreach and hard-working attempts to roll back victory,” Williams said.
The country’s capital has long been in the crosshairs of Trump and the GOP Congressional leaders. Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers threatened to withhold funds if Bowser didn’t remove the Black Lives mural from the streets near the White House.
“D.C. has always been this kind of political football for Republicans,” Williams said.
While some black mayors are worried that the city will become Trump’s target, Savannah Mayor Johnson continues his job to combat crime.
“We’re worried about fighting the federal government and fighting crime,” he said.. “I think it’s a distraction from what Americans are really talking about, that’s the ongoing ‘if’. ”
Johnson said the ideology and approach of some black mayors may be different to Trump’s, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be partners in issues that include crime.
“We understand elections. We are our own politicians,” he said. “We’re accused of playing with people on the field. When Donald Trump became president, he too became president of our city.”
Contribution: Philip Bailey
