REV SEES GROWTH OPPORTUNITY
Says Trump’s vulgar comment could be a net positive
The Rev. Eugene F. Rivers III of the Ten Point Coalition is shelving his demands for a White House apology for President Trump’s “s---hole” comments and says instead a shrewd player could “leverage” the comments for good.
Rivers said Trump’s comments weren’t raised in a meeting Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence, black pastors and Catholic leaders that focused on ways the federal government could help staunch violence in communities nationwide.
And though Rivers initially called for a “highly visible apology” for the “astonishingly racist remark,” the Hub pastor said he’s focused on working for the poor.
“Apologies are nice. Programs and policies that help the poor are better,” Rivers told the Herald, hinting that Trump’s comments could ultimately help push federal aid to the very people targeted by the remarks.
“The gaffe last week could actually be an opportunity to leverage resources for the aggrieved parties, if and only if there are people from those communities who are smart enough and tough enough to leverage and negotiate those possibilities,” said Rivers, who’s also the director of the National Ten Point Training Institute.
Tuesday’s meeting with Pence — also attended by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Catholic Bishop George Murry, the Rev. Charles Harrison of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition, Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson and others — grew out of an open letter circulated in August by the Knights and Rivers’ Seymour Institute, decrying lives lost when “contests over ideas turn bloody.”
The aim of the meeting was to rally the government’s help for intercity initiatives.
One initiative seeks to replicate in a few dozen other cities the Ten Point Coalition model of religious community and law enforcement cooperation. Another aims to marshal resources for vulnerable youths at risk of being lured into gangs.
“The bottom line is having a discussion that leads to measurable outcomes,” said Rivers, who stressed he’s a registered Democrat. “The VP was very generous. We plan to meet with some of his senior staff in the next four weeks.”
Rivers said black churches are looking for “measurable outcomes” and to him it doesn’t matter who they come from. In November, Rivers met with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Indianapolis at a panel on reducing violence in black neighborhoods.
“Whether or not (Trump) apologizes, black pastors and black churches have to serve the poor,” Rivers said. “Our end game has to be results in service to the poor.”