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| Donald Trump’s Description of Black America Is Offending Those Living in It | Donald Trump’s Description of Black America Is Offending Those Living in It |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| AUSTIN, Tex. — Campaigning over the past week, Donald J. Trump has painted a bleak and dire picture of black America. | AUSTIN, Tex. — Campaigning over the past week, Donald J. Trump has painted a bleak and dire picture of black America. |
| African-Americans live in neighborhoods that resemble “war zones” more than cities, he has said. They struggle to get by on food stamps. Fewer and fewer of them own their own homes. And errant gunfire is a constant hazard. | African-Americans live in neighborhoods that resemble “war zones” more than cities, he has said. They struggle to get by on food stamps. Fewer and fewer of them own their own homes. And errant gunfire is a constant hazard. |
| “You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in Akron, Ohio, on Monday, saying how blacks’ lives would improve if he were president. “Right now you walk down the street, you get shot. Look at the statistics — we’ll straighten it out.” | “You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in Akron, Ohio, on Monday, saying how blacks’ lives would improve if he were president. “Right now you walk down the street, you get shot. Look at the statistics — we’ll straighten it out.” |
| Dogged by suggestions that he is running a racist campaign, Mr. Trump has been speaking about and expressing concern for black voters more in the past week than at any other point in his presidential run. | Dogged by suggestions that he is running a racist campaign, Mr. Trump has been speaking about and expressing concern for black voters more in the past week than at any other point in his presidential run. |
| But he has been doing so in front of nearly all-white audiences. In Austin, a few blacks were seated behind Mr. Trump, where they would be seen on television during his speech. Otherwise, the crowd was predominantly white. | But he has been doing so in front of nearly all-white audiences. In Austin, a few blacks were seated behind Mr. Trump, where they would be seen on television during his speech. Otherwise, the crowd was predominantly white. |
| Republican pollsters and strategists speculate that Mr. Trump’s newfound attention to blacks and inner-city conditions is aimed less at actually vying for African-American support than at softening his image among suburban whites who might otherwise be receptive to him but are loath to vote for someone seen as racist. | Republican pollsters and strategists speculate that Mr. Trump’s newfound attention to blacks and inner-city conditions is aimed less at actually vying for African-American support than at softening his image among suburban whites who might otherwise be receptive to him but are loath to vote for someone seen as racist. |
| And some African-Americans who have been listening say the picture Mr. Trump has been painting of black America — a nightmare of poverty, death and danger, brought about by failed Democratic policies and leadership — is unrecognizable. | And some African-Americans who have been listening say the picture Mr. Trump has been painting of black America — a nightmare of poverty, death and danger, brought about by failed Democratic policies and leadership — is unrecognizable. |
| Marc H. Morial, the president of the National Urban League, said Mr. Trump’s depiction of a desperate, hopeless black America did not match reality. | Marc H. Morial, the president of the National Urban League, said Mr. Trump’s depiction of a desperate, hopeless black America did not match reality. |
| “It’s an inaccurate portrayal of the community that seeks to define the community by only its biggest challenges,” Mr. Morial said. “Black America has deep problems — deep economic problems — but black America also has a large community of striving, successful, hard-working people: college-educated, in the work force.” | “It’s an inaccurate portrayal of the community that seeks to define the community by only its biggest challenges,” Mr. Morial said. “Black America has deep problems — deep economic problems — but black America also has a large community of striving, successful, hard-working people: college-educated, in the work force.” |
| Indeed, Mr. Trump’s description of urban decay can sound anachronistic — more applicable to the New York of the 1970s, when Mr. Trump first entered the world of real estate at his father’s side, or of the crack-plagued early 1990s, when he was a fixture of the city’s tabloids, than to most major cities today. | Indeed, Mr. Trump’s description of urban decay can sound anachronistic — more applicable to the New York of the 1970s, when Mr. Trump first entered the world of real estate at his father’s side, or of the crack-plagued early 1990s, when he was a fixture of the city’s tabloids, than to most major cities today. |
| “You could go to war zones in countries that we’re fighting, and it’s safer than living in some of our inner cities,” Mr. Trump said in Akron. | “You could go to war zones in countries that we’re fighting, and it’s safer than living in some of our inner cities,” Mr. Trump said in Akron. |
| His sales pitch can also sound bluntly dismissive. | His sales pitch can also sound bluntly dismissive. |
| “What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” he asked a crowd in Virginia on Saturday. “You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?” | “What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” he asked a crowd in Virginia on Saturday. “You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?” |
| Mr. Trump would seem to have nowhere to go but up among African-American voters. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found Hillary Clinton with a 91 percent to 1 percent advantage over Mr. Trump among blacks. His credibility problems with blacks stem in part from his role in leading the so-called birther movement that questioned President Obama’s birthplace, an attempt to delegitimize Mr. Obama’s presidency that offended great numbers of African-Americans. | Mr. Trump would seem to have nowhere to go but up among African-American voters. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found Hillary Clinton with a 91 percent to 1 percent advantage over Mr. Trump among blacks. His credibility problems with blacks stem in part from his role in leading the so-called birther movement that questioned President Obama’s birthplace, an attempt to delegitimize Mr. Obama’s presidency that offended great numbers of African-Americans. |
| On Tuesday, the Clinton campaign seized on Mr. Trump’s new language toward minority groups, hosting a press call with black Democrats in Congress who criticized Mr. Trump’s approach as bigoted, exploitative and“too little, too late.” | On Tuesday, the Clinton campaign seized on Mr. Trump’s new language toward minority groups, hosting a press call with black Democrats in Congress who criticized Mr. Trump’s approach as bigoted, exploitative and“too little, too late.” |
| Jason Miller, Mr. Trump’s spokesman, did not respond to an email seeking comment. Nor did Omarosa Manigault, the former “Apprentice” star who is a top adviser to Mr. Trump on African-American issues. | Jason Miller, Mr. Trump’s spokesman, did not respond to an email seeking comment. Nor did Omarosa Manigault, the former “Apprentice” star who is a top adviser to Mr. Trump on African-American issues. |
| Mr. Morial noted that the Urban League had invited Mr. Trump to attend briefings on its policy concerns, but that he had declined. | |
| “The idea that the entire community is in poverty, you’ve got 25 percent of the entire community that’s in poverty?” Mr. Morial said incredulously. “You do have broken schools, but have you seen the Olympics? Have you seen Congress?” | “The idea that the entire community is in poverty, you’ve got 25 percent of the entire community that’s in poverty?” Mr. Morial said incredulously. “You do have broken schools, but have you seen the Olympics? Have you seen Congress?” |