Black colleges see red
Uproar as Trump statement ‘disputes’ funds
President Trump soured months of sweet talk aimed at AfricanAmerican voters with a single paragraph that seemed to threaten government money for historically black colleges and universities.
But it’s all just a misunderstanding, said an official of the United Negro College Fund.
The fuss began with a clause of legalese in a signing statement issued with Trump’s approval of the budget appropriations bill.
The statement, issued Friday, cited the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Capital Financing Program Account — a $20 million fund that helps the schools finance construction projects — as a program that could run afoul of the Constitution.
Trump said the allocation was of a piece with federal programs “that allocate benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity and gender.”
In the signing statement, Trump said such monies must be administered “in a manner consistent with the requirement to afford equal protection of the laws under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.”
That irked supporters of HBCUs. “Dear @realDonaldTrump, hire some new lawyers if you think banning Muslims is consti- tutional and funding black colleges is unconstitutional,” tweeted Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.
“Trump’s statement is not only misinformed factually, it is not grounded in any serious constitutional analysis,” said Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Cedric Richmond of Louisiana in a joint statement.
“For a president who pledged to reach out to African-Americans and other minorities, this statement is stunningly careless and divisive,” the lawmakers said.
In February, Trump invited more than 60 HBCU presidents into the Oval Office, where he signed an executive order proclaiming his support.
“Trump just said f *** you to every HBCU president who sat up in the Oval Office and smiled in his lying face,” tweeted CNN commentator Keith Boykin.
The fund “received informal assurance from White House officials that the paragraph is not intended to indicate any policy change toward HBCUs,” a UNCF spokeswoman said.