Black Trade Unionists Call for Massive Black Turnout in Midterm Elections to Remove Trump Enablers; Also, Warn Democrats Not to Disrespect Black Voters and Candidates
Orlando, FL
The deep, visceral political anger in the African American community that has grown each day of the Trump presidency found its voice at the 47th International Convention of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists held in Orlando, Florida, May 23-28, 2018. In his keynote report to 800 delegates, CBTU President Terrence L. Melvin, said, “Donald Trump is showing us just how deeply rooted racism and white supremacy are in America. It has become exhausting and traumatizing and more lethal for communities of color to navigate the random hate, meanness and insecurity of whiteness. In fact, insecure whiteness has become the number one health hazard for black folks.”
Melvin, who was unanimously re-elected to his third term as CBTU president, criticized the massive Trump tax cut and his attempt to slash social safety net programs. “45 and his posse of enablers are hostile to unions, teachers and public education, immigrants, the poor and advocates for a sustainable environment for all.”
Melvin, who is also secretary-treasurer of the powerful New York State AFL-CIO, said, “On November 6th, we’ve got to go after every Trump enabler – at EVERY level of government – from Congress to statehouses to local offices.” To a thunderous standing ovation, he declared, “Our message to voters is simple: SEND THEM HOME!
- If they cut safety net programs, SEND THEM HOME
- If they oppose living wages, SEND THEM HOME
- If they support cops who don’t respect Black Lives, SEND THEM HOME
- If they underfund our schools and criminalize our children, SEND THEM HOME!
- If they hurt immigrant families and ignore environmental racism, SEND THEM HOME!
- If they won’t protect our voting rights, SEND THEM HOME!
- If they take Ben Carson seriously, SEND THEM HOME.”
But Melvin also warned the Democratic Party apparatus not to “sleep on” the black vote in the midterm elections. He pointed to the winning margin that black voters provided white candidates in key elections last year in Alabama and Virginia, and the insurgent victory in Georgia of Stacey Abrams, who could become the first African American female governor in the nation.
But Melvin said he’s disappointed by the inclination of Democratic Party leaders to waste time and resources “chasing the wrong voters for the wrong reasons.” He said, “The narrative that’s shaping their midterm strategy is that white working-class voters who defected to 45 need to see the Democrats address their so-called ‘economic anxieties. But numerous studies have put that lie to rest. It was fear of losing their dominate status in society that drove them into Trump’s base.”
Melvin urged Democratic leaders “to lean into their base and stop chasing voters who reject the value and reality of diversity and want to preserve the status quo based on their white skin privilege.” He said, “It’s time for the Party to decide what it stands for and who it stands with. The warning from black trade unionists to the Party is don’t roll the dice. Don’t disrespect us.”
CBTU has more than 55 chapters in the United States and Canada, many in key battleground states. The influence of black trade unionists in the African American community is huge. One of every seven black workers is a member of a labor union, making the independent voice of CBTU influential in shaping the attitudes and actions of black people across the United States and Canada.
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