Trump Gloats As He Tells Mostly White People They Won't Have To Live Near Poor Black People

The president announced the scrapping of an Obama-era rule that sought to rid the country of segregation in new housing developments.
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Donald Trump has gleefully announced that mostly white people who are “living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream” will no longer be forced to live near poorer Black and ethnic minority people.

In a tweet posted on Wednesday, the president announced he was rescinding legislation last amended by Barack Obama that sought to overcome historic patterns of segregation in urban areas of the US.

The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH) helped towns and cities plan new housing in a way that countered the decades-long pattern of more affluent white Americans settling in the suburbs while poorer Black and ethnic minority Americans were forced to live in cheaper and sub-standard inner city housing.

This trend was seeing some reversal since the turn of the century, assisted by an Obama-era tweak to the AFFH that required towns and cities to examine if any new housing projects exacerbated racial segregation.

In his tweet, the president said scrapping the rule would mean people “living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream” would no longer have to deal with crime and falling house prices.

He ended the thread: “Enjoy!”

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...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020

...Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020

The tweet was instantly called out as “racist” and “elitist”.

This tweet isn't only racist. It's extreme elitism.

yet somehow there's a white factory worker making $10 an hour who still thinks Trump looks out for him.

He finds you disgusting and wouldn't even want to live near you. https://t.co/3ugY9Hw88l

— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) July 29, 2020

At a time when polls show overwhelming support for anti-racism movements and protests - particularly in the suburbs - the president is increasingly running on a message that boils down to stoking White Flight fears. https://t.co/z1kcShZWjF

— Scott Detrow (@scottdetrow) July 29, 2020

His racism is getting more and more blatant. This is simply despicable - and just like gassing the Wall of Moms, I assure you is NOT appealing to suburban voters - just his base of racist trash. https://t.co/levuKGNzpv

— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) July 29, 2020

Back in the 1970s, Trump and his father were sued by the US Justice Department for allegedly racially discriminating when deciding who could buy flats in their new housing developments.

In 2016 during the presidential election, Hillary Clinton highlighted the issue, saying: “Donald started his career, back in 1973, being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination – because he would not rent apartments in one of his developments to African-Americans, and he made sure that the people who worked for him understood that was the policy.”

Trump said the case was settled with no admission of guilt.

“Yes, when I was very young, I went into my father’s company – had a real estate company in Brooklyn and Queens,” he said. “And we, along with many, many other companies throughout the country – it was a federal lawsuit – were sued. We settled the suit with zero, with no, admission of guilt.”

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