Trump promises to protect ‘Suburban Lifestyle Dream’
/Trump promises to protect ‘Suburban Lifestyle Dream’
By Robert Foreman
With his approval ratings slipping, particularly among white voters in the suburbs, President Donald Trump recently rolled back an Obama-era program that was meant to deal with racial segregation in the suburbs. The Obama-era program had expanded on provisions in the Fair Housing Act that were meant to encourage diversification in the suburbs. However, President Trump took to Twitter and proclaimed “I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood... Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!”
President Trump’s critics immediately took issue with his implication that the suburbs were under siege by low-income minorities and pointed out how both he and his father, Fred Trump, were sued by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in the 1970’s for discrimination against prospective African-American and Puerto Rican tenants. Of course, President Trump denied any wrongdoing and stated in a book in 1987 that his managers tried to weed out ‘certain types of tenants’ and that “What we didn’t do was rent to welfare cases, white or black.” The Trumps counter-sued the government for $100 million claiming defamation. Yet, the case was eventually settled in 1975 after the Trumps and their company entered into a consent decree. While they did not have to admit any wrongdoing in the decree, they were required to ensure that apartments were rented without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The full article on the case can be found here: https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/02/trump-fbi-files-discrimination-case-235067
Many of President Trump’s most ardent supporters applaud his stance on protecting the ‘Suburban Lifestyle Dream,’ including former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey. She wrote a recent Op-Ed in which she declared that Vice-President Biden’s proposed housing policies would threaten home values, increase property taxes and threaten the overall character of the communities. In her article, McCaughey stated that in 2015 that the Obama administration had floated a cookie-cutter requirement for ‘balanced housing’ that would have required towns to make it possible for low-income minorities to choose suburban living and provide adequate support to make it a reality. McCaughey’s full article can be found here: https://nypost.com/2020/07/21/joe-bidens-disastrous-plans-for-americas-suburbs/
However, the problem that arises when one starts using ‘property taxes’ and ‘declining home values’ when talking about community diversity is that it tends to evoke racism, implied or otherwise. After all, before, during and after the Civil Rights Era those who opposed integration often used those same terms as an excuse for wanting to keep their communities ‘pure’. As America still deals with the ongoing protests regarding racial injustice ‘Protecting the Suburban Lifestyle’ is likely not the best tone to strike. For one, it implies that the suburbs are purely made up of white residents and that any people of color will automatically be a problem and/or just there in low-income housing. Secondly, it ignores the demographic shifts in which educated, successful minorities are moving to the suburbs without federal assistance.
The world has changed since suburban voters helped carry President Trump to victory in 2016. Not only did suburban voters help the Democrats win back control of the House of Representatives in 2018, but many Republicans in Congress are finding that they are struggling in the suburbs as well. A large number of the affluent and educated white suburban voters have been turned off by what many view as the President’s attempts to sow racial division, particularly when he referred to the Black Lives Matter movement as a ‘symbol of hate’ and his continued defense of Confederate flags and monuments. A recent article found that both President Trump and the Congressional Republicans may have a tougher path to shoring up support in the suburbs than they previously believed. The article, which detailed interviews with voters, party officials and strategists, can be found here: https://news.yahoo.com/suburban-voters-sour-republicans-battle-153443704.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=2_15
Yet, with the election less than a 100 days away much can change. So, regardless of what the polls, media pundits, political strategists or even voters are saying now it is still imperative that everyone exercise their right to vote. Regardless of whether you consider yourself a Republican, Democrat or Independent it is important that people make their voices heard at the ballot box. To be blunt, both political parties have their issues and are too tied in with lobbyists and special interests groups. Both parties want to label people as either ‘far left liberal’ or ‘far-right conservative’. The truth of the matter is more people probably fall somewhere in the middle. This insistence of labeling people politically may be the reason that more people are choosing to call themselves ‘Independents’ instead of ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’. However, whatever label you choose to call yourself the most important label should be ‘registered voter.’ So, this November get out and vote both your conscience and your interests.
