Donald Trump has seemingly doubled down on the perception that he has no desire to listen, or speak to, American minorities by turning down an invitation from the NAACP to speak at their annual convention.
After having received tremendous backlash from both sides of the political aisle regarding his xenophobic rhetoric during his campaign, this move reflects an inherent insensitivity to many within the African-American community.
The decision to decline the invitation is unprecedented in the modern history of presidential elections. The ramifications and potential repercussions is expected to be damning for the presumptive Republican nominee.
Pundits and participants throughout the political spectrum believe the move will lend credence to the argument that the core of the vitriolic language, which has been a trademark of the Trump campaign, is a deep seeded racism in Donald Trump’s nature.
On the heels of an extremely tense week in which African-American communities throughout the country have mobilized in defiance of the recent police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Trump has taken the unthinkable stance of denying a visit to the long standing civil rights organization.
NAACP President Cornell William Brooks appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer yesterday afternoon and responded to a question regarding the group’s invitation to Mr. Trump:
“Mr. Trump has declined our invitation, so we will hear from Secretary Clinton.”
Brooks went on to say:
“Namely, the explanation given was that [Republicans] are holding their convention at the same time. We are, of course, in Cincinnati; they are in Cleveland. We were hoping he would make the short trip from Cleveland to Cincinnati.”
But Donald Trump will not be making the trip to Cincinnati. Rather than accept the opportunity to present himself as a serious candidate who truly wants to help unify black communities with law enforcement, or even listen to their grievances, he has declined.
Earlier in the day, President Obama and former President George W. Bush appeared in Dallas along with Mayor Mike Rawlings and Chief of Police David Brown to memorialize the officers who were killed in the attack last Thursday.
The contrast could not be more stark between what current and past leadership is working on to achieve in regards to unity. Also, what will be the perception of this latest move by Donald Trump? What does this reveal about his true intent?
From a purely strategic perspective, declining an invitation from the NAACP is damaging. Especially considering that only a few days ago Mr. Trump was asking for unity between black communities and law enforcement during a recorded video address he gave on Friday.
An opportunity to build on that theme would be welcome by any typical candidate in that context.
Surrogates within the Trump campaign even went so far as to say that Mr. Trump is running as a candidate of unity. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said of Mr. Trump:
“[he is] trying to campaign as a racial healer.”
Declining the invitation from the NAACP speaks to the contrary. Nothing is so antithetical to the premise of seeking unity as refusing an invitation to speak to the NAACP. This is an organization whose message and work, from its very inception, has been about helping to heal and address the very issues at the heart of the tensions which gave rise to the violence this past week.
