Trump campaign chair makes inaccurate racist claims
On Wednesday, Sept. 21, Kathy Miller, the campaign chair for Donald Trump in Mahoning County, Ohio (where Youngstown is located) made a series of appalling racist comments.
She claimed there was “no racism” during the 1960s and said “I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected.” She also said: “If you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault,” and “You had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it.”
Miller called the Black Lives Matter movement “a stupid waste of time” and said lower voter turnout among African Americans could be related to “the way they’re raised”.
These remarks are truly deplorable. But so are the recent remarks of Donald Trump, including his statement on Sept. 21 (the same day that the county chair was making her statements) that “African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they’ve ever been in before – ever, ever, ever.”
Apparently Trump has forgotten about slavery, Jim Crow, and widespread lynchings of African-Americans throughout the South for many decades.
He is also apparently ignorant about the fact that black poverty rates today are considerably lower than they were 50 years ago and the number of black college graduates is considerably higher.
The day after making her racist remarks, Kathy Miller resigned from her position as a Trump county chair. She insisted, however, that her statements were accurate. Donald Trump, unfortunately, did not resign.
We can only hope that on Nov. 8, the American people will show him the door.
SANDY FELDMAN,
Lakeside