By The main group that represents African American interests, the Congressional Black Caucus, refused to take part in a meeting with Donald Trump. Their refusal is motivated by the fact that Trump’s policies, have a negative impact over the black communities. When asked to attend that meeting, the Congressional Black Caucus declined, saying that Trump’s current decisions, will have a devastating effect, for every black community inside United States.
CBC released an open letter to Donald Trump, in which they criticize his current policies. The president is also being condemned by the caucus for his unresponsiveness and the fact that he ignored them, when they shared some concerns. The letter also states that all 49 CBC congressmen will not meet with him, because of that reason. In their opinion, millions of black people are a direct victim of Trump’s administration and a simple social meeting like that, won’t fix their problems.
The Black Caucus was founded in 1971 and it represents the issues of Afro-American people, in the Congress. Currently, CBC has 49 members. 48 of them are members of the Democratic Party and only one is a Republican. Cedric Richmond, the chairman of CBC went specific in the letter, and mentioned 8 situations when they have shared their concerns with Trump administration. According to him, none of these 8 concerns were followed by an answer from Trump, or his staff.
CBC accuses Trump of indifference when it comes to black people. They’ve been providing some accurate information and solutions on the matters, but they have been ignored by the American President. The Caucus questions Trump’s good faith when it comes to black communities, and its members are concerned about the future of black people, under Trump’s presidency.
The recommendations provided by CBC, contain some delicate matters in American modern policy. They were proposing some budget cuts, concerning the Pell Grants program, which is student federal aid. Also, they were militating for more low-income aid programs and saying that the Home Energy Assistance Program is not enough, for the deprived persons. Another sensitive topic was mentioned, and they’ve accused Trump of having no strategy, when it comes to drug wars. According to them, drug wars are a real threat for some black communities, and Trump did nothing to ensure their security.
The idea of a CBC-Trump meeting became viral during a press conference, when a reporter asked Trump if he plans to consider the CBC enquiries in his agenda. His reaction was a controversial one, and he ended up calling the Congressional Black Caucus “a bluff”.
