Much of what you need to know about Donald Trump's purported "outreach" to the African-American community can be gleaned by panning through the audience at the West Bend, Wisconsin, rally he presented it to. As with every other location Donald Trump has ever set foot in on the campaign trail, the audience was almost entirely white—the town of West Bend, Wisconsin, is nearly 95 percent white, in fact, making it a conspicuous choice for a speech focused on black Americans. And it was not so much "outreach" to those black Americans as it was "outreach" to the Trump voters who are quite certain they know what ails shiftless and riot-minded nonwhites around them.
What we need around here, Trump intoned in his usual effervescent manner, is for black Americans to pipe down and help us help you.
“Every time we rush to judgment with false facts and narratives, whether in Ferguson or in Baltimore, and foment further unrest, we do a direct disservice to poor African-American residents hurt by the high crime in their community — a big, big unfair problem,” Trump said Tuesday night at a campaign rally. [...]
He then called the “war on police a war on all peaceful citizens who want to be able to work and live and send their kids to school in safety,” including African-Americans in that group. [...]
"Our job is to not make the job more comfortable for the rioter or the robber or the looter or the violent disrupter, of which there are many,” Trump said.
There would apparently be no mention of Black Lives Matter in this speech, at least not by name. Only a war on police by "rioters" and "violent disrupters."
But just as Trump has ideas about how to deal with Muslim Americans and their penchant for "radical" thoughts—in his administration, the government will form "commissions" to investigate Muslim American communities and "viciously, if necessary" remove the troublemakers—Donald Trump is equally certain of what black American communities need.
"Law and order must be restored. It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially the sake of those living in the affected communities. [...]
The problem in our poorest communities is not that there are too many police, the problem is that there are not enough police."
He went on to praise "dear friend Rudy Giuliani,"chastising other mayors for blocking "what Rudy did in New York City." Add some words about the Democratic Party "betraying" African-American voters; some words about there being many shootings in Chicago; some words about the real problem for black Americans being the filthy immigrants coming here to take their jobs. The standard alt-right—sorry, but there's no way that term ought to be used with a straight face, at this point, so let's just dispense with it now—the standard white nationalist obsessions on the inherent criminality of minority communities comingled with the the last decade’s worth of Republican you-people-are-stupid-for-not-liking-us talking points, all delivered to Trump's usual audience of lily-white malcontents and Confederate flag wavers.
So there's your "outreach" speech, America. There will likely not be another.