{"id":28654,"date":"2017-05-09T05:35:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T05:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=28654"},"modified":"2017-05-09T05:35:56","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T05:35:56","slug":"trump-walks-back-threat-defund-black-colleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/trump-walks-back-threat-defund-black-colleges.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump Walks Back Threat to Defund Black Colleges"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTrump Walks Back Threat to Defund Black Colleges<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/h2>\n

\n\tWhen President Trump signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill on Friday, he zeroed in on a tiny sliver of it, suggesting that he might disregard $20 million in funding for loan subsidies and other aid to historically black universities.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo nights later, after a storm of criticism, the White House walked back the threat in a statement that declared the president’s “unwavering support” for such schools.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the two days in between left some African-American educators feeling used, many black politicians enraged and some demanding that Mr. Trump back his “unwavering support” with a show of budgetary support. It also, once again, revealed a White House where one team does not necessarily know what another team is up to.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“I worked to make sure there was clarity because I observed that there was feedback and some were misconstruing the signing statement,” Omarosa Manigault, a close aide to Mr. Trump, said in an interview on Monday. Ms. Manigault headed Mr. Trump’s outreach to black voters during his presidential campaign and had publicly promised that his budget would protect historically black colleges and universities.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Friday signing statement hit hard because in February, he had invited dozens of presidents from historically black universities to visit him in the Oval Office while he signed an executive order that moved an initiative to support such schools from the Education Department into the White House. That was followed by Ms. Manigault’s open boast that while cuts in the president’s budget would be deep, black higher education was safe.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“I think it was a photo op,” said Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania professor who has studied historically black universities since 1994. She called Mr. Trump’s statement on Friday “offensive” and said she is worried that he is signaling to the schools that he has the power to make life difficult for them.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMr. Trump’s suggestion that he might disregard the aid provision was made in a signing statement, an official document laying out his interpretation of the new statutes created by a bill. In it, he suggested that directing government spending to universities associated with a particular race was an unconstitutional infringement of people’s due process rights.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat language invoked the view, held by some conservatives, that affirmative action-style programs amount to discrimination against whites. But it was not clear whether the White House was saying the executive branch would refuse to hand the universities the money that Congress had appropriated for them, or was merely gesturing to that view.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tRegardless, it prompted an uproar. Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, called the statement “shameful.” The United Negro College Fund said it had sought “clarification” from the White House, while stressing that the schools were open to all races.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tRepresentative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and Representative Cedric L. Richmond, Democrat of Louisiana and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, released a joint statement on Saturday calling on Mr. Trump to reconsider.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“For a president who pledged to reach out to African-Americans and other minorities, this statement is stunningly careless and divisive,” they said.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Monday, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, dismissed the flap, saying Mr. Trump was “obviously aware” of what was in the signing statement, but called it a “normal, pro forma” action.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the statement the White House issued late Sunday, Mr. Trump said his signing statement “does not affect my unwavering support” for historically black colleges and universities, saying his commitment “remains unchanged.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMr. Trump’s second statement also noted that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is scheduled to be a commencement speaker this week at a historically black school, Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Separately, Ms. DeVos issued a statement on Sunday night applauding Mr. Trump for reaffirming the administration’s support for such colleges.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMichael L. Lomax, the president and chief executive of the College Fund, said he would take Mr. Trump and Ms. DeVos at their word but expected action.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“The clearest indication that they accept what has been the policy and the practice since 1965 would be the immediate release of the funds and the implementation of the program,” he said.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce obscure and rare, signing statements began to be used more frequently in the Reagan administration. They attracted broader controversy when President George W. Bush used them to challenge more provisions than all previous presidents combined had done, including asserting a right to bypass a torture ban.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough President Barack Obama had criticized Mr. Bush’s use of the device as abusive while running for office, he also issued some signing statements. Mr. Trump’s signing statement on Friday, the first of his presidency, indicated that the practice will continue.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe statement also challenged numerous other provisions of the omnibus spending bill that imposed limits or requirements on Mr. Trump’s power as president. But it seemed destined to be remembered for the colleges provision.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Monday, Ivory A. Toldson, who recently served as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities under Mr. Obama, said supporters of the schools would need to carefully see what comes next.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“We absolutely need to remain vigilant,” he said. “So we have to look at the appointments. We have to pay attention to the statements. And we have to make sure we understand the programs that are out there that will help us.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSource:- https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/08\/us\/politics\/historically-black-colleges-omarosa-trump.html<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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