What to Know About Donald Trump's Meeting With the Congressional Black Caucus

Last month, during a rare Donald Trump press conference at the White House, veteran White House correspondent April Ryan asked Trump if he planned on meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss his urban community initiatives.

Before she could finish saying the title of the latter, the president cut in and said, "Well, I would. I'll tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting? Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?"

Ryan quickly replied, "No, I'm just a reporter." Trump, however, ignored her, and continued: "Set up the meeting. Let's go, set up a meeting. I would love to meet with the black caucus. I think it's great."

The brief exchange was awkward not only because it appeared he assumed that a black reporter would somehow have greater access to the CBC than the president of the United States, but also because the CBC had already made a formal attempt to meet with him before that, a point they made on their verified Twitter account.

On Wednesday afternoon, a month removed from that press conference, the CBC finally had their opportunity to sit down with Donald Trump. Led by chairman Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and five members of the executive committee — including André Carson (D-Ind.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) and Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.) — they reportedly discussed the concerns they have for the direction of the nation, and the black community at large.

The conversation opened with remarks from President Trump regarding the respect he has for the CBC, while also including a protracted analysis of the nations' healthcare problems.

As the CBC used their Twitter account to live-tweet some of the remarks their members made during the meeting, they included the hashtag #ALotToLose which is a response to a semi-rhetorical question Trump posed to the black community at a campaign rally in Michigan last summer, asking, "What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?"

At the meeting, the CBC handed Trump a 130-page policy document called We Have A Lot To Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century. The text outlines their suggestions on what Trump can do to assist the black community in America.

The executive summary of the book clearly outlines that it was created as a pointed, in-depth response to Trump's "What do you have to lose?" question. It states: "So, as the Conscience of the Congress and voice of 78 million Americans and 17 million African Americans, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is obliged to answer President Trump’s question. The answer — African Americans have a great deal to lose under the Trump Administration and we have lost a lot already in a little more than the first 50 days."

Just under a third of America's Muslim community is comprised of black Americans. It’s one of the reasons why Trump’s much-contested (and now blocked) executive orders are an issue of importance to the CBC. (CBC member Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) made history in 2006 by becoming the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress.)

Many members of the CBC were very active in protesting Trump’s first executive order the same weekend it was initially announced. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a man famous for marching beside Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., went to Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport to find out how many people were detained. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) went to Los Angeles International Airport to lead crowds in protests, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) arrived at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., with a federal court order issuing a stay in Trump’s executive order to allow those detained at the airport to be freed.

During the meeting at the White House, Rep. Bass and Rep. Moore both brought up the importance of criminal justice reform. They reiterated the points outlined in We Have a Lot to Lose, such as de-prioritizing arresting non-violent drug offenders, and assisting those released from prison with successful re-entry into society.

The issue of criminal justice has been a particular sticking point for many black Americans due to Trump's contentious relationship with law enforcement and black citizens. It was Trump who not only placed full-page ads in four major New York daily newspapers advocating for the execution of the Central Park Five (five underaged black and Latino boys who were wrongly charged, convicted, and imprisoned for a crime they never committed) but, years later after it was revealed that they were innocent, still stood by his comments that they should have been executed. Throughout the campaign he advocated for the return of stop-and-frisk, a controversial method of policing that was ruled unconstitutional because it disproportionately targeted black and Latinx men.

When Trump declared himself the "law and order candidate" at the Republican National Convention, many saw it as an intentional invocation of former President Nixon, who has been credited as the founder of the war on drugs which was responsible for the mass incarceration of many black and Latinx citizens.

Not only did the CBC bring a book to their meeting with Donald Trump, but Mother Jones reports that they also brought individual letters from various members of the CBC, addressed to Trump and other members of his Cabinet. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) wrote a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions outlining his "many causes for concern," and Rep. Richmond and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) wrote letters to Betsy DeVos regarding her plans for public education.

After the meeting was complete, members of the CBC informed the media that not only did they have a candid and constructive meeting with Trump, but they plan on meeting regularly.

Although they may have left the meeting noting that they felt cautiously optimistic, there are still many in the black community who simply don’t share the CBC’s outlook. It was only a couple of weeks ago that Trump had a meeting with HBCU presidents that went so poorly, Morehouse College President John Wilson, Jr., called it “troubling.” The hope is that this is not just a self-serving photo-op, but a real exchange of ideas.

After the meeting, Rep. Brenda Lawrence said, “He listened. It was a first step. It was not a warm-fuzzy meeting, but it was about business.”