As pro-Black Lives Matter protests and riots gripped the nation, there was little pushback from the media and the movement itself on its political ideology. Black Lives Matter railed against law enforcement, implying that the Trump administration was too pro-police and that it was to blame for racial unrest lain at President Donald Trump’s feet.
However, Black Lives Matter lacked the facts to back up its claims that America has become allegedly more racist since Trump took office in 2016.
For the first time in America’s history, the federal government under Trump agreed to permanently fund historically black colleges and universities (known as HBCUs). In December 2019, the president signed the bipartisan Future Act to permanently provide over $250 million a year to the country’s HBCUs. At the bill’s signing at the White House, Trump said that HBCUs have “never had better champions in the White House.” He noted, “When I took office, I promised to fight for HBCUs, and my administration continues to deliver.”
The bill also simplified the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is a form that college students fill out to determine financial aid eligibility. It eliminated 22 of the 108 questions on the FAFSA form.
Trump applied pressure and led the charge to pass the First Step Act, which struggled to get passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate after making initial progress. Trump’s advocacy for the bill eventually garnered enough lawmaker support for him to sign it into law. The law aimed to reduce federal prison populations, provided opportunities for former inmates to rehabilitate and transition to civilian life, and reduce recidivism (i.e. former inmates returning to prison after reoffending and committing crimes).
One of the leading examples of the need for criminal justice reform was Alice Marie Johnson, who was sent to prison with a life sentence for allegedly participating in a drug smuggling ring. Advocates on her behalf questioned whether the mandatory sentencing laws were too harsh on a first-time offender. Trump granted clemency to Johnson, thereby releasing her from prison. Over a year later, Trump pardoned her at an event in the White House.
The First Step Act reversed many of the problems created by the 1994 crime bill, championed by Trump’s 2020 presidential opponent Joe Biden. The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act laid the groundwork for mass incarcerations of minority suspects, as Biden acknowledged in an October 2020 town hall. Biden said it was a “mistake” for writing the law in the manner that it was written, and he acknowledged that the enforcement of the law had a disproportionate and negative impact on the black community.
Contrary to the false narratives of Black Lives Matter, the Trump administration has helped the black community since he took office.