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Black lawmakers cite setbacks under Trump

Leaders fret over push to cut health housing programs

By ERRIN HAINES WHACK, Associated Press
Published: September 24, 2017, 11:11pm

WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail last year, then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sought the support of black voters by asking them, “What the hell do you have to lose?”

An answer came during the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual legislative conference this past week: Everything.

“We are losing essential freedoms,” said Brittany Packnett, who became an advocate for criminal justice reform after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown and subsequent protests in Ferguson, Mo. “The mood is resolute. No one is confused about the amount of work that lies ahead of us.”

Those who flocked to the nation’s capital for the gathering of black lawmakers, leaders and policy experts identified multiple ways that black Americans are losing ground under President Trump’s watch.

The conference, which ended Sunday, took place against the backdrop of yet another attempt by the GOP-controlled Congress to undo a signature domestic achievement of the country’s first black president, the Affordable Care Act.

Over the past eight months, black Americans have also been alarmed by the administration’s attempt to undo federal housing programs, a lack of funding for historically black colleges, and a retreat from discussion of disparities in policing of minority communities.

The conference also happened as Trump attacked NFL players who kneel in protest during the national anthem. Since last season, several players have knelt or raised fists when the anthem is played to protest police treatment of blacks and social injustice.

This year’s CBC conference was the first since President Barack Obama left office, shifting the national black political leadership mantle from the White House back to Capitol Hill. The heavily Democratic caucus — currently boasting its largest-ever membership with 49 representatives and senators — so far has had a testy relationship with Trump, who got only 8 percent of the black vote when he was elected last November.

Trump met with CBC leadership in March. But in June, the caucus turned down an invitation to meet again, saying their concerns have fallen on “deaf ears” at the White House, and that Trump’s policies are harmful to black Americans.

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