POPSUGAR

Let's Take a Minute to Discuss Trump's Disgraceful Black History Month Speech

Feb 2 2017 - 5:20pm

Remember last year's Black History Month at the White House, when President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle danced with 106-year-old Virginia McLaurin [1] as she fulfilled her dreams of meeting the president? It was a beautiful moment that instantly went viral.

Fast forward to this year, and President Donald Trump insulted the legacy of Black History Month in several ways during his Feb. 1 speech. Here are a few.

  1. Speaking about abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Trump described him as "someone who has done a terrific job that is being recognized by more and more people." Douglass died in 1895. Many took Trump's comments to imply that he thinks Douglass is still alive.
  2. After briefly reflecting on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, Trump went on a tangent about a mistaken report. He mentioned how Time journalist Zeke Miller had wrongly reported that Martin Luther King Jr.'s bust had been removed from the Oval Office. Miller has since apologized several times but in true Trump style [7], he can't let it go. (He also called CNN "fake news" and praised Fox News, who has "treated me very nice.")

    Daniel Dale, a Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, tweeted Trump's comments about the MLK bust, which went viral with thousands of retweets.

  3. Instead of celebrating any current accomplishments of African Americans, he painted black communities as those living in despair with failing schools, low wages, and crime. "We're going to need better schools, and we need them soon. We need more jobs, we need better wages, a lot better wages," he said. "We're going to work very hard on the inner city."
    1. After the speech, Dale tweeted the full transcript of Trump's remarks:

      Which Chelsea Clinton retweeted with the words, "This is . . . this is . . ."

      Girl, we don't blame you. It's hard coming up with the right words for what went down.

Image Source: NBC [20]


Source URL
https://www.popsugar.com/news/Donald-Trump-Black-History-Month-Comments-2017-43096078