# Trump to attend Black journalists' convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [July 30, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016 "2024-07-30T18:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/101 "2024-07-31T22:21:01Z")
Are you seriously bringing up a white person from apartheid South Africa to try and call me out? Like that guy would have any clue about the nuances of race in the United States? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/102 "2024-07-31T22:21:56Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I mean, I don’t know that I’d call 55% a ‘vast’ majority. > > [Is Barack Obama ‘black’? A majority of Americans say no. - The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/04/14/is-barack-obama-black/) It was more than any other group, which sort of puts lie to the assertion that black people are particularly sensitive to this distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/103 "2024-07-31T22:27:25Z")
No, you’re bringing it up. You said to ask any immigrant from Africa if they consider themselves African-American. I did. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/104 "2024-07-31T22:28:19Z")
They are not seen as “black” in the generic term by black descendants of US chattel slavery in the US that’s what I’ve been saying. Non mixed African Americans see themselves as black in the US, generically. White people label mixed people with some African blood as “black” due to the one drop rule, in the US. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/105 "2024-07-31T22:29:59Z")
And you bring up some white guy from South Africa of all countries. Wow hope you feel good about that. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/106 "2024-07-31T22:31:35Z")
> [@split\_p\_j](#): > > Go ask any immigrant from Africa if they call themselves African-American. They’ll laugh at you. You tell any African-descended person outside of America that they’re not Black, and they’ll also laugh at you. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/107 "2024-07-31T22:31:48Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > 1. It is, as you posit, a deliberate strategy to create controversy and stay in the headlines. > 2. It is an example of Trump running off at the mouth with no filter and zero reflection or strategy behind his words. > > I had figured #3 when I watched the clip, but #1 and #2 are certainly possibilities. I guess we’ll have to see if Trump continues that line of attack on Harris; if he does hammer it home over and over …it’ll be because news media have reverted to the “OMG LOOK WHAT HE SAID OMG LOOK WHAT HE SAID” coverage mode. Which then **turns #3 into #2** ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/108 "2024-07-31T22:32:33Z")
> [@split\_p\_j](#): > > He keeps going to this point because he just has to swing a small percentage of minds, mainly younger people. He’s being advised to do this. The problem with an issue like this is that while it may drive a small percentage of people into Trump’s camp, it’s going to energize, if not outright enrage, a large number of Black, Asian, and mixed race voters, while not moving the needle one way or another with White voters. I’ve heard political scientists say the object of negative campaigning is to depress the turnout of your opponent’s supporters. I’d be interested in seeing if it can actually piss them off so badly it increases turnout (or at least campaign contributions, which is almost as good.) ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/109 "2024-07-31T22:35:35Z")
You can split hairs on words like vast or majority, fine. The bottom line is that this is an angle that Trump is focusing in on. We are kidding ourselves to think there is going to be a landside for Harris, elections just don’t work like that now. The margins mean everything and that cite says a majority of Americans say that no, Obama is not black. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/110 "2024-07-31T22:36:46Z")
That cite says that, when given a choice between “black”, “white”, and “mixed”, a minority say “black”. That’s not the same thing as asking “Is he black?”, and offering options of “yes” or “no”. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/111 "2024-07-31T22:41:55Z")
Ok well I don’t know if I agree with this, I mean the numbers are pretty much baked in. It’s going to be a close election coming down in a handful of swing states, and I don’t think Trump or his advisor’s goal is to win over black voters. It’s really do depress the black vote, to say you’ve been voting for them all these years and they have done nothing for you. He then lies and says hes the greatest since Lincoln, or that he will restore “black job’s” But we all know that people believe his lies. If he can get enough black people in the swing states to believe this then he wins. I’m explain that a percentage is open to that message and he has polling to prove it. Thats why he keeps hitting this point. You all don’t understand but I do. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/112 "2024-07-31T22:45:07Z")
The hardest part of this argument to believe is that trump grasps a single bit of these complexities. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/113 "2024-07-31T22:46:01Z")
He doesn’t know the full nuances, but he doesn’t need to. He has the points he keeps hitting. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/114 "2024-07-31T22:47:07Z")
You have a hypothesis on why he’s doing this, and it appears you have a hypothesis on whether it will be effective. But you’ve failed so far to offer anything to suggest this is more than you making a guess on both the why and whether it will work. ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/115 "2024-07-31T22:49:14Z")
Well, I don’t know if it will work. I think it can work once it’s understood that he is not trying to win the black vote. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/116 "2024-07-31T22:50:20Z")
I don’t view it as critical for one to wholly endorse much of what @split_p_j is saying in order to believe that somebody in Trump’s campaign organization has identified this as a wedge issue that could possibly suppress turnout in the “of color” communities or shift a few votes at the margins. He’s got big problems in urban areas, even in the swing states. The demagoguery and the race baiting that have supported Trump’s campaign strategies have seemingly relied on rather keen analytics and analysts who are as craven and evil as they are smart. So … a play to affect votes at the margins _and_ to try to co-opt a news cycle in which he’s flailing? I could easily see it being both. I loved how Trump couldn’t be arsed to say that Vance would be ready to be President on Day One – more that VPs really don’t move the election needle much at all. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/117 "2024-07-31T22:50:37Z")
Fair enough. But you’re just guessing as to why he’s doing it. Maybe that’s it – or maybe Trump is a buffoon when it comes to discussing race and racism, and he’s just being his typical buffoonish self. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/118 "2024-07-31T22:56:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I did once know a white fellow from South Africa who did call himself African-American, for that reason. Then again, that guy was just plain insane, so probably not the best example. HA! I have a close friend who is a white Brit but born and raised in Kenya. He insists that he’s an African American (he’s a US citizen now). ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/119 "2024-07-31T22:58:13Z")
I would think that, but he is trying to line up with all the FBA talking points. The clear misogyny is a part of it and appeals to some black men as putting the uppity women in their place. He is well advised on this, and it could be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016/120 "2024-07-31T22:59:53Z")
> [@split\_p\_j](#): > > Go ask any immigrant from Africa if they call themselves African-American. They’ll laugh at you. Would you accept the son of an immigrant from Africa? > **[Why Obama Chooses 'Black' Over 'Biracial'](https://www.npr.org/2008/01/09/17958438/why-obama-chooses-black-over-biracial)** > > With a Kenyan father and white mother, Barack Obama still identifies himself as African American rather than biracial. Alex Cohen explores why that is and what this choice means in the political arena. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-to-attend-black-journalists-convention/1005016.md?page=7)