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Black leaders in Michigan don't take kindly to Donald Trump visiting Detroit Saturday, issuing blistering statements through Hillary Clinton's campaign. Trump spoke at a west-side church and visited Dr. Ben Carson's childhood neighborhood in Southwest Detroit.
Some leaders are unimpressed by his outreach.
Rev. Wendell Anthony: "He is talking over, around and through black people but not to black people."
Rev. Wendell Anthony:
"Donald Trump’s visit to Detroit is tantamount to a wolf visiting a sheep farm to lead a discussion on Let Me Be Your Leader to Greener Pastures. It is the old southern strategy of Nixon, Bush and Reagan, wrapped up in a new an unimproved version of divide and conquer the Black and moderate white votes. Let's talk about law and order for you, bad economic times for you but no specific plan of action from me. He is talking over, around and through black people but not to black people. He should apologize, repent, realign and retreat from his divisive non-pesidential behavior. We are all better than that."
Bishop Charles Ellis::
"I have no room for conversation with Mr. Trump, until he first apologizes to the President and the entire African American community for attempting to delegitimize his presidency with regard to him being a US Citizen. If a person has no respect for an African American serving in the highest position in this country and world, then how can I believe that he has any respect for me?
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver:
"Hillary Clinton has been a champion for the African-American community for decades. This year, she traveled to Flint to stand with us and let the country know that Flint's crisis is a national crisis. In doing so, she showed us once again who she is: a proven leader who is committed to addressing the injustices African-Americans are subjected to in this country. Flint's water crisis should serve as a reminder to Americans of what can happen when entire communities are ignored, left out and left behind. Donald Trump has a long history of turning a blind eye to the African American community. We are not fooled by this manufactured stop in Michigan. This is the same man who has talked down to us and falsely claimed that our entire community is poor, uneducated and unemployed. Donald Trump's lack of concern for our community is yet another reason he is unqualified and unfit for the presidency."
Elsewhere around the country, black leaders also offer opinions:
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Missouri:
“Whether he is embracing policies that preserve privilege for those at the top or spewing rhetoric that demeans Americans, Donald Trump has shown us that he wants to roll back the progress we have witnessed over the past eight years,"Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO) . Trump is running around the country riling up his supporters declaring that he wants to 'take our country back.' I have news for Mr. Trump, the hateful groups he has courted and now represents can never have this country again. We are moving forward together, and we refuse to allow him to take us back.”
Rev. Marcia Dyson, social activist:
“As the Bible says, beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. No matter how many times he attempts to reset, Donald Trump is still running the same race but with a pair of different shoes. There's no doubt in my mind that this man who discriminated from the boardroom will take that same attitude to the White House. He has shown us who he really is and who he really cares about -- and that’s not us.”
Keith A. Owens, Detroit journalist writing in the New York Daily News:
"Trump sees Detroit, and he sees a gold mine of despair and hopelessness that he can use as a prop to exploit for his own twisted purposes. He sees a majority black city that has been down and out for so long — and under Democratic leadership, no less — that it may as well support a white racist backed by both by neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan because, well, why not? . . . Detroiters are not stupid. And if there’s one thing we are familiar with, it is racism. Racism has been an integral part of our history."
Charles Blow, New York Times columnist:
"He’s talking past blacks and Hispanics, two groups he has previously shown little interest in. He is instead speaking directly to the educated white voters who recoil at the thought of supporting a bigot. Blacks and Hispanics are mere pawns in this appeal."
