Trump will live up to promise of prosperity for America’s inner cities

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to bring prosperity and safety back to America’s inner city communities. The media and political elites largely reacted by rolling their eyes and calling Trump a “racist” — God forbid a white, billionaire businessman even utter the words “inner city,” let alone claim that he has solutions to help the people who live in them.

{mosads}Yet the very pundits, analysts, and political experts who are quick to write off and label Trump still haven’t figured out why so many normal Americans have enthusiastically embraced our new president. No, the 66 million Americans who voted for Trump are not immigrant-hating white supremacists; they support Trump because he is a man of action who promises practical solutions to fix real problems, and then follows through on those promises.

And just as Trump delivered on his vows to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, temporarily block immigration from jihadist conflict zones, and choose a constitutionalist conservative for the Supreme Court, lifting up the inner cities will be no exception.

In August on the campaign trail, Trump boldly pitched himself to urban black voters in Michigan. “You’re living in 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?” Trump asked. The media, along with the nation’s leading Democrats, reacted with disgust. 

This is so ignorant it’s staggering. https://t.co/t2fZl9sqKs

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 19, 2016

Trump’s words may have sounded harsh, but they were true — and it’s about time a politician acknowledge the issues facing inner cities. The first step to solving a problem is to honestly identify the problem.

Through policies promoting job growth, law and order, and school choice, the Trump Administration will bring safety and prosperity to urban minority communities:

Job Growth

Non-white urban residents are disproportionately stricken by poverty and economic inequality. An alarming 38 percent of black children live in poverty — a significantly higher rate than that of all children in America. The black unemployment rate is twice as high as the rate for whites — and that doesn’t even take into account the workforce participation rate.

Pro-business policies that encourage corporations to grow operations here in the U.S. will create opportunities for workers in urban areas. Trump has promised to lower corporate taxes from 35 percent to 15 percent and implement tax holidays for inner city investment.  And earlier this week he signed an executive order aimed at “cutting regulations massively for small business,” which requires government agencies to cut two regulations for every new one implemented.

Reducing burdensome taxation and regulation will allow corporations to flourish and, as a result, hire new employees.

Law and Order

Over the past several years, crime and gang violence has increasingly plagued urban areas. In January 2017 alone, 300 people were shot and 50 were killed in Chicago, a city whose majority population is non-white. In 2016, more than 2,200 people were shot in Chicago, 21 of them kids 13 and under.

Last  year was Baltimore’s second-deadliest year on record; the town once called “Charm City” suffered 318 murders, mostly a result of gang warfare. Trump has zero tolerance for this carnage; he’s even threatened to “send in the feds” to Chicago if the city’s homicide rate doesn’t come down. His Administration will additionally empower law enforcement and promised to invest in training for operations to remove gang members, drug dealers, and cartels from neighborhoods.

A “no tolerance” stance towards gang violence and crime, coupled with the smart allocation of resources, will make our city communities safer for families and children.

School Choice

Stagnant public city schools are failing minority students – in urban districts across the nation, student performance is flat and minority students face major academic inequalities. The high school graduation rate among black students is significantly lower than that of white students, and that gap is only growing.

Minority students deserve access to better education, and increasing the number of urban charter schools may be the answer. New York City is already seeing positive results: During 2014, only 29 percent of students at public schools passed the state reading tests, while 64 percent of students at Success Academy — a large charter — passed the same tests.

When it came to state math tests, 35 percent of students at public schools passed compared to 94 percent of the students at Success. Amazingly, charter schools receive an average of $3,814 less in federal funding per student than public schools.

Former President Barack Obama and other Democrats, who claim to be champions of the public school system, push for policies that deprive minority communities of school choice while sending their own children to private schools in limos. The days of forcing inner city youths into failing public schools are over: Trump has promised to expand school choice and “allow every disadvantaged child in America to attend the public, private, charter, magnet, religious, or home school of their choice.”

For far too long, Democrats have taken minority votes for granted while failing to offer policies that actually lift those communities up. On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton repeatedly said “words matter.” That’s true — words do matter — but actions matter more, and our inner cities deserve more than just lip service.

Trump has proven to the voters that he is a man of action who follows through on his promises. The nation’s leading journalists and analysts, who still haven’t realized this, are in for a surprise when they witness our cities become safer and more prosperous once again.