WASHINGTON (AP) – On the campaign trail last year, then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sought the support of black voters by asking them, “What the hell do you have to lose?”
An answer came during the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual legislative conference this past week: Everything.
“We are losing essential freedoms,” said Brittany Packnett, who became an advocate for criminal justice reform after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown and subsequent protests in Ferguson, Missouri. “The mood is resolute. No one is confused about the amount of work that lies ahead of us.”
Those who flocked to the nation’s capital for the gathering of black lawmakers, leaders and policy experts identified multiple ways that black Americans are losing ground under President Trump’s watch.
The conference, which ended Sunday, took place against the backdrop of yet another attempt by the GOP-controlled Congress to undo a signature domestic achievement of the country’s first black president, the Affordable Care Act. Over the past eight months, black Americans have also been alarmed by the administration’s attempt to undo federal housing programs, a lack of funding for historically black colleges, and a retreat from discussion of disparities in policing of minority communities.