FORUM
Donald Trump: the oval office
vs. real estate developments
Walter
Smith
Guest
Columnist
New York
City and the
real estate
building
trades is prob
ably one of
the toughest
businesses
one can imap
0
ine. To be a
successful builder in New York City, one
has to be able to deal successfully with the
different factions that control the building
trades. You must be tough, confident, per
suasive, and fearless.
Racism, vulgarity, sexism, violence
and bullying are the hallmarks of the real
estate development business.
Donald Trump, candidate for president
of the United States, honed his skills in the
real estate industry during his rise to fame
and fortune in the decades of the 70s and
80s. Much has been written about his early
career, but many details have been
obscured by the passage of time and over
shadowed by Trump's success and celebri
ty. However, he has been a major player in
the cutthroat world of business and
finance.
Early in 1971, Trump began cultivating
the rich and powerful. He made regular
donations to members of the city's
Democratic machine. Mayors, borough
presidents and other elected officials often
were blunt in their requests for campaign
cash and "loans," according to the com
mission on government integrity.
Donald Trump later said that the richer
he became, the more money he gave.
As he fed the political machine, he also
had to work with unions and companies
known to be controlled by New York's rul
ing mafia families, which had infiltrated
the construction industry, according to
court records, federal task force reports,
and newspaper accounts. No serious presi
dential candidate has ever had Trump's
depth of documented business relation
ships with mob-controlled entities.
At the first Republican debate in
August, Trump alluded to his history of
political giving, bragging that he gave
money with the confidence that he would
get something in return. "1 was a business
man. I give to everybody. When they call,
I give. And you know what? When I need
something from them, two years later.
three years later, I call them. They are i
there for me," he said. He made reference
to Hillary Clinton as a recipient of his gen- 1
erosity who was obligateid to attend his
wedding.
Over the years Trump became a pow
erful and fearless developer. He cut his
deals his way. He dictated the terms of his
deals with his wealth. He tolerated no
opposition; it was his way or ho way!
Trump's stump speech sounds much
like a closed session with shady characters
where tough talk, promises and big money
will get the job done. "I'm going to make
America great again." "I'm going to build <
a wall on our southern border and Mexico
is going to pay for it." "We don't win any
more; when I'm president, we're going to
win so much you will be begging me to
stop winning." "We're going to build up
the military. We're going to defeht ISIS."
"We're going to deport illegal immi
grants." "We're going to bar Muslims
from coming to America." and "Black
Lives Matter should try to take my mic
from me!" "I'm going to bring our jobs
back from Mexico and China." "The
Mexicans are going to vote for me, the
blacks are going to vote for me. Why?
Because I'm going to give them jobs; I'm
going to bring back the jobs from China
and Mexico." "We're losing all over the
world." "ISIS is cutting off heads, drown
ing people in cages and we are complain
ing about waterboarding. I'll go further
than that. I'll bring back a hell of a lot
worse than waterboarding." "Hillary
Clinton, I have not started on her yet."
For sure, when he finishes with Hillary
Clinton, only women with no self-respect
will vote for him.
Trump never has any substance to
impart to his thousands of supporters.
What he fails to mention on the stump is
that his clothing line is made in China and
Mexico. He can initiate the process of
bringing jobs back from China and
Mexico by having his clothing line made
in America.
In the absence of substance. Trump,
true to his celebrity status, is an excellent
entertainer. He berates his opponents in the
worse way, called George Bush a liar and
criticized John McCain for getting cap
tured during the war. "He's not a war
hero," Trump said. Then he got sarcastic
and added: "He's a war hero because he
was captured? I like people that weren't
captured." ,
When asked what he would do about
the protests and the issue of racially moti
vated violence, Trump simply stated:
"There's no such thing as racism any
more. We've had a black president, so it's
not a question any more. Are they saying
black lives should matter more than white
lives or Asian lives? If black lives matter,
then go back to Africa. We'll see how
much they matter there."
A 1973 suit against Trump and the
Trump organization claimed that superin
tendents at Trump properties would mark
African-Americans' applications with
racial codes. When an African-American
showed up to rent an apartment owned by
Donald Trump and his family, the building
superintendent did what he claimed he'd
been told to do. He allegedly attached a
separate sheet of paper to the application,
marked with the letter "C" for "Colored."
This insured the application would be
rejected.
Donald Trump operated his business
with secret racist codes then and-will take
that concept to the Oval Office if elected.
All he has for his supporters is his
"Bad Boy, Tough Guy" image and "We are
going to make America great again."
When asked how he plans to get things
done, he claims he is going to bring in peo
ple who can get things done. He brags
about the great company he has built and
assures his supporters that he will do the
same thing for America. Yet whenever he
tries to promote his rhetorical plans, they
are shot down by the experts. In assessing
the state of the United States, it has the
worse leadership imaginable. According to
Trump, Obama has divided the country.
Yet he has expressed his disdain for every
non-white ethnic group in the world. At his
rallies, he does not hesitate to point out
African-American protesters and link
them with our African-American presi
dent. He has absolutely nothing good to
say about anyone except himself and a few
of his cronies.
America is still the great melting pot as
it was when his grandparents came here
from Germany in 1885 and his mother
from the Scottish island of Lewis. Grandpa
Fred listed his ethnicity as Swedish to
avoid alienating his Jewish tenants, as he
was one of New York City's premiere real
estate developers.
Donald Trump needs to read Article II,
Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which
states the powers of the Executive branch
of the U.S. Government. If for some
ungodly reason he happens to occupy the
Oval Office in 2016, "I" ahd "We" will not
consist solely of him and his handpicked
cabinet. It will be the Congressional Black
Caucus, the Democrats, the House of
Representatives, the Senate, the Supreme
Court, and International law who will have
to give their consent to his shallow, racist,
dictatorial ambitions.
Walter Smith is publisher of the New
York Beacon.
Local students deliver
letter to Cooper
March 7,2016
Concerned Students
for Kalvin Micheal
Smith Winston-Salem,
NC
Mr. Roy Cooper
Attorney General of
North Carolina
9001 Mail Service
Center
Raleigh, NC 27699
Dear Attorney
General Cooper:
We have worked tire
lessly in recent months to
bring together students
from Wake Forest
University, Winston-Salem
State University and Salem
College to do what you
have actively refused to do
for the past eight years: to
publicly declare our out
rage at the failure of our
criminal justice system in
keeping Kalvin Michael
Smith wrongfully incarcer
ated for the past 19 years.
Today, we are delivering
the banner, originally pre
sented at toe February 18
WSSU rally, which has
now been signed by over
200 college students.
Through the rally, through
this banner, through social
media, and ultimately
through their votes, hun
dreds of students are call
ing on you, Mr. Cooper, to
join Kalvin Michael
Smith's defense counsel in
petitioning the Superior
Court to vacate Kalvin *s
1997 wrongful conviction.
For too long you have
been silent about the injus
tice facing Kalvin Michael
Smith, a working-class
black man who has served
19 years in prison for a
crime he did not commit.
Your unwillingness to get
involved demonstrates how
you are ignoring the
African-American commu
nity, which has largely
remained supportive of you
despite your lackluster
record of supporting them.
Attorney General
Cooper, you have the
power to review the case,
to review former FBI
Assistant Director
Christopher Swecker's
report, and to join the
defense counsel, Duke
University Professor James
Coleman Jr., in a motion to
vacate the conviction.
Our state is extensively
aware, Mr. Cooper, that
you formerly entrusted FBI
Assistant . Director
Christopher Swecker in
2010 to audit thousands of
cases from the SBI
Forensic Lab. And when
Mr. Swecker's investiga
tion reported over 200
cases of malfeasance that
violated the constitutional
rights of defendants, you
followed his recommenda
tions. However, in Kalvin
Michael Smith's case, you
have actively ignored Mr.
Swecker's review, refusing
to even meet with him.
According to the NC
Bar Code of Ethics (Rule
3.8) " ... a prosecutor
should not intentionally
avoid pursuit of evidence
merely because he or she
believes it will damage the
prosecutor's case or aid the
accused." We believe that
prosecutorial ethics require
you, Mr. Cooper, to meet
with former Assistant FBI
Director Christopher
? v
Swecker
and to acknowledge the
truth that his review uncov
ered, and to meet with Lt.
Joseph Ferrelli and Sgt.
Chuck Byrom, who spear
headed the Silk Plant
Forest Citizen Review
Committee. These two
independent reviews by
law enforcement profes
sionals came to a consen
sus: they hold no confi
dence in the police investi
gation that led to Kalvin
Michael Smith's convic
tion. Mr. Swecker further
concluded, "Only a new
trial that considers the full
record and evidence not
available, misrepresented
or omitted in the original
trial will provide the full
measure of justice that the
Community of Winston
Salem and every accused
defendant deserves."
(Swecker Report, p. 17).
We and a growing pop
ulace of North Carolinians
are keenly aware that
Kalvin's wrongful incar
ceration is not an isolated
injustice, but a result of the
racially charged politics
and corruption surrounding
ou, criminal justice system.
There is a growing con
sciousness in our country,
particularly because of the
\
efforts
of the Black Lives Matter
movement, that justice
today is indeed still not
blind when it comes to skin
color. This was again
affirmed in our own state
this past week with the
release of Howard Dudley,
a black man wrongfully
incarcerated for 23 years.
In fact, we had an opportu
nity to Sit down this past
week with Alicia Garza,
co-founder of the Black
Lives Matter movement, to
discuss Kalvin's denial of
freedom and to strategize
ways that the larger BLM
movement might support
our efforts in upholding the
justice that you are denying
him and our community.
As Ms. Garza shared one
night during the weeklong
seminar she taught on non
violent social change,
"Silencing around race is
what perpetuates racism."
And Mr. Cooper, for far too
long you have remained
silent about the racial dis
parities and discrimination
in our criminal justice sys
tem.
According to data from
the NC Commission on
Racial and Ethnic
Disparities in the Criminal
Justice System, during
searched after a traf
fic stop, and African
Americans make up 57
percent of the prison popu
lation, but only 22 percent
of the general population.
And then there are more
specific incidences of your
failings to uphold justice
for communities of color,
such as the 2013 shooting
of Jonathan Ferrell, an
unarmed black male col
lege student, by Charlotte
officer Randall Kerrick.
When the jury failed to
reach a verdict, you made
the unconscionable deci
sion to not retry the case.
This far cry from justice
yet again demonstrated that
to you, Mr. Cooper, black
lives do not matter.
The citizens of North
Carolina and black voters
especially expect more of
you, Mr. Cooper. Your
decision to defend Smith's
conviction, and your more
recent decision to actively
ignore even substantively
commenting on it, is at best
cowardice, and at worst a
deceptive denial to uphold
your oath of office. Your
refusal to even meet with
former FBI Assistant
Director Christopher
Swecker conveys the mes
sage that a black man's life
isn't worth your time or
effort. You did not hesitate
to intervene, investigate,
and exercise your prosecu
torial discretion in the 2006
Duke Lacrosse case to dis
miss the wrongful charges
against three affluent white
men. Yet Smith, a work
ing-class black man, is
seemingly underserving of
your heroics.
We are committed to
holding you, Mr. Cooper,
accountable1 for the ethical
obligations of your office,
as we are aware of both
your capacity and responsi
bility to act. No longer can
you claim to be the coura
geous crusader for sys
temic criminal justice
reform while continuing to
defend the wrongful incar
ceration of Kalvin Michael
Smith. We are calling on
you, Mr. Cooper, to uphold
the oath of your office in
seeking justice and truth:
Justice for Kalvin, who has
remained wrongfully incar
cerated for 19 years, justice
for Ms. Jill Marker, whose
actual attacker has still not
been held accountable, and
justice for the citizens of
North Carolina, whose tax
dollars have paid to keep
this innocent man in
prison.
Leaders of the
Concerned Students for
Kalvin Michael Smith are,
Hayden Abene, who is a
student at Wake Forest
University; Jaylon Herbin,
who is a student at
Winston-Salem State
University; and Virginia
Parnell, who is a student at
Salem College.
r*
your tenure, black
and Latino drivers
have remained twice
as likely as white
drivers to be
? ^ ?
Herbin