Is Opposing Donald Trump’s Economic Policies Racist? 

Port Townsend’s Women’s March: Bigoted or Detached from Reality?

by Scott Hogenson

[Editor's note:  We have notified the Port Townsend Women's March organization that we would be happy to publish their response to this commentary]

The Congressional Black Caucus is not to be trifled with. Established in 1971 to amplify the legislative agenda of African American lawmakers and their constituents, the CBC is “committed to using the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the federal government to ensure that African Americans and other marginalized communities in the United States have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.” 

I’ve spent enough time on Capitol Hill to know that one gets between the CBC and its objectives at their peril. To cross the CBC in its mission to help blacks achieve the American Dream is to invite accusations of racism

It logically follows, using the CBC’s modus operandi, that opposing programs that increase jobs for blacks would be racist. Railing against policies that result in higher wages and more job opportunities for African Americans would be racist. That’s just how name-calling politics works. 

If we’re going to be philosophically consistent--if not intellectually honest--it stands to reason that opposing the economic policies of President Trump makes one a racist.

The economic policies of the Trump administration have made business expansion a lot easier, meaning more blacks (and other people) are finding jobs. The June unemployment figures show a black jobless rate of 5.9%, the lowest since data on black unemployment have been collected. Unemployment is also dramatically lower for Americans of other racial and ethnic groups. 

Wages for blacks and others in the workforce are finally starting to rise and data collected by the Society for Human Resource Management shows even higher wage growth through 2018 as corporations plan to further hike wages and salaries. These same companies also report plans to accelerate hiring this year. 

President Trump’s policies have reduced illegal immigration to its lowest level in 17 years, which helps black Americans find and keep jobs, especially young African Americans working in low-skill or entry level positions. As explained by Vernon M. Briggs, Jr., emeritus professor of labor economics at Cornell University,  “Because most illegal immigrants overwhelmingly seek work in the low skilled labor market and because the black American labor force is so disproportionately concentrated in this same low wage sector, there is little doubt that there is significant overlap in competition for jobs in this sector of the labor market.” The president’s immigration policies, which amount to little more than enforcing existing law, are making it easier for blacks to find jobs by decreasing employment competition from illegals. 

Free market economies are inherently dynamic so it’s foolish to give Trump all the credit for record low black unemployment, rising wages and more job opportunities. But he certainly deserves much credit for the results of his policies. What’s fascinating to contemplate is that if these policies emanated from the Congressional Black Caucus rather than the Trump White House, anyone who opposed them would be branded a bigot and a racist.

Taking this in context, I recalled a January, 2018 news photo of an essentially all-white crowd of thousands on Water Street in Port Townsend.  They excoriated the president for being a racist, among other sins. Those whose efforts improve the lives of blacks are not ordinarily described as racists. Their charges of racism against President Trump are an indicator of just how detached from reality so much of Port Townsend can be.

This name-calling is not reserved for the president. I have been called a racist, a homophobe and a xenophobe by virtue of my five-month association with the Trump campaign between July and November, 2016. It’s weird because none of my black friends think I’m a racist, none of my gay friends think I’m homophobic and none of my Muslim, Hispanic and Asian friends think I’m xenophobic or a religious bigot. But that’s just how name-calling politics works. 

Are Port Townsend liberals and progressives who oppose the economic policies of President Trump racists? Personally, I am loathe to use such incendiary language over simple policy disagreements. But one must wonder about the motivation of those who fight relentlessly against policies that are demonstrably improving the lives of millions of African Americans. 

Scott Hogenson is a resident of Jefferson County. 

Responses to Scott's columns of no more than 700 words may be sent to ptfreepress@gmail.com.  The author's full name, address and telephone number must be included.

(Editor’s note:  Scott Hogenson is president of Hogenson Communications, LLC, a public relations consultancy. He moved to Jefferson County in 2017 after 25 years in Washington, DC, where he worked on four presidential campaigns as a senior member of the Republican National Committee Press Office. He is also a contributor to the Jodi Wilke for State Representative campaign.  He has been a member of the academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he lectured in the School of Journalism and served as managing editor for the Wisconsin Public Radio News Network. Scott has also been a contributing editor for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., a broadcast editor for United Press International, and a news director for radio stations in Virginia and Texas.)