(L-R) Activist Kevin Richardson, New York City Council Member Dr. Yusef Salaam, Activist Korey Wise and Activist Raymond Santana, representing “the Central Park Five”, stand with Rev. Al Sharpton (2nd-R) on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. | Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
People watching the final night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) were provided with a very real reminder of Donald Trump’s decades-long history of anti-Black racism and discrimination.
The topic was first broached by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said that the only time Trump has ever taken a stance on the issue of race was back in the 1980s when he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for a group of Black and brown boys falsely accused of raping a white woman to receive the death penalty.
“It was there that I saw Trump loved to fan racial flames,” said Sharpton, who then introduced that same group of now men who are collectively called the Exonerated Five.
Kevin Richardson, who is now an activist, Yusef Salaam, who is now a New York City Council member, Korey Wise and Raymond Santana joined Sharpton on the stage to share their story with America and draw further attention to Trump’s racism and hate.
Recalling the boys’ “youth was stolen from us” because of the false rape accusations they faced, Wise said that hardship was compounded by the death penalty ad, which encouraged similarly hateful protesters to essay unthinkable things to the children as they entered court for their trial.
“Because of Donald Trump,” Wise said. “He spent $85,000 … calling for our execution. We were innocent kids, but we served a total of 41 years in prison.”
New York City Councilman Yusel Salaam (left) and activist Korey Wise of the Exonerated Five gesture about Donald Trump as Rev. Al Sharpton looks on at the DNC on Aug. 22, 2024. | Source: MANDEL NGAN / Getty
He said he was there at the DNC because of his allegiance to Sharpton.
“Reverend Al Sharpton stood with us then, I’m proud to stand with him today,” Wise continued. “Vice President Harris also worked to make things fairer. I know she will be the same as president.”
Salaam spoke about Trump in no uncertain terms.
“45 wanted us unalived,” Salaam said of Trump. “He wanted us dead.”
Salaam explained that he and the other exonerated men were freed from prison only because of DNA evidence and the actual perpetrator of the crime confessed. Still, Salaam said, Trump still stands by the original guilty verdict.
“He dismisses the scientific evidence rather than admit he was wrong,” Salaam added. “He has never changed, and he never will.”
Salaam encouraged voters to elect Harris into office so that “America will finally say goodbye to that hateful man.”
Antron McCray, the other member of the Exonerated Five, was not with the group on stage.
In the DNC segment that immediately followed the Exonerated Five and Sharpton, civil right leader and President of the National Urban League Marc Morial spoke about another aspect of Trump’s legacy of anti-Black racial discrimination.
Morial reminded people about Trump’s history of intentionally keeping Black people from being tenants in his New York City properties simply because of the color of their skin.
“It was straight-up housing discrimination,” Morail said. “It was racism.”
Conversely, Morial credited Harris for having a history of the type of “civil rights advocacy” that out an end to Trump’s racist housing policies.
“Donald Trump, you denied Black people the American dream, and Kamla Harris is creating a future where every family has a place to call home,” Morial said.
Later in the evening, comedian DL Hughley told a joke that the only way Donald Trump can keep Kamala Harris out of the White House is to buy it and refuse to rent it to her.
The punch line prompted laughter, but Trump’s racism is very serious.
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