President Donald Trump is expanding his 4-year effort to help black Americans prosper. The Black Economic Empowerment Platinum Plan commits $500 billion to inner-city areas. It is a follow-up to policies instituted by the administration that resulted in rising wages, a record number of blacks entering the middle class and the lowest unemployment for African Americans in history.
“I’m here today to announce a brand-new plan to deliver more opportunity, more security, more fairness and more prosperity to black communities,” Trump said “We call it the Platinum Plan and that’s a contract with black Americans and it’s going to be something that people talk about for a long time to come.”
Georgia small-business owner Bruce LeVell, who also heads the president’s National Diversity Coalition, says he was overcome with emotion as he heard details of the plan. “I was just choked up because never in my life have I seen a president — like this is real stuff here,” he said. “This is real meat.”
READ: See the details of the plan here
The president’s plan comes at a time when America’s wealth gap between whites and blacks remains substantial. According to a report by the Federal Reserve, in 2019, the typical white family had an approximate net worth of $188,200, compared to $24,100 for black families.
If re-elected, President Trump promises that over the next four years his administration will improve those numbers by creating three million jobs for the black community, 500,000 thousand black-owned businesses. He also commits to increasing homeownership opportunities for African Americans, providing access to better education and higher policing standards.
“This is a tremendous, tremendous boost for, as I say, the underserved communities across this great nation,” LeVell said. “This is a great, great way to spur growth in a lot of our communities that’s been honestly left behind.”
LeVell believes it is time for blacks to seriously consider what Trump has to offer.
“Take a look around you and ask yourself do you like your roads, do you like your schools, do you like everything around you?” he asked. “If your answer’s no, then let’s try it this way. Don’t get caught up in the emotions, pay attention to the numbers.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice