In arguing that Trump could bring jobs and “hope” to black communities, Hughes told host Anderson Cooper that “it’s these urban areas, 44 cities, where crime is going up as well as gang violence. So there’s an issue that needs to be addressed by those kinds of — those communities, and they need to be supported whether it’s through law enforcement or education.”
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“A couple of things. One is — gun violence specifically — the overall crime rate has been on a steady decline since the 1980s,” Rye said in response. “But I think that it’s really important to watch the words that we use. When we say, ‘Those communities, those people,’ who are we talking about?”Rye then alluded to an interview aired earlier in the segment in which three black women whose sons each died as a result of shootings expressed skepticism regarding Trump’s boast that he could solve Chicago’s crime issues in “a week.”
She also made reference to the Black Lives Matter movement’s emphasis on the disproportionate lack of empathy shown toward black shooting victims.
“Donald Trump was busy calling people who look like me thugs, blaming the victim in these instances of gun violence and police brutality,” said Rye. “That is deeply troubling to me and not only to me, but I’m sure to several other — I can’t speak for all African-Americans — but to other African-Americans.”
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