Jun 23, 2019 2 min read

Trump continues to deny reality

It is stunning that many will defend Donald Trump against charges that he is racist. His latest reinforcement of the accusation is seen in his unfortunate recent comment on “The Central Park Five,” then-young African American men who were found to have been falsely accused and convicted of the 1989 rape of a Pittsburgh area woman.

Trump ran ads in New York newspapers at the time in which the men were referred to as “murderers” and in which he called for a reimposition of the death penalty.

After serving years in prison after being railroaded into confessions, the men were ultimately exonerated. Another man confessed to the crime and DNA evidence backed his admission. The city paid the men $41 million and current Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. notes that the men were wrongly convicted and that an injustice was perpetrated. Did any of this cause Trump to rethink his position? No, of course not: He knows better than anyone who is closely associated with the case and he is never wrong.

Today, Trump refuses to apologize or express regret for his stance, stating in Charlottesville mode, that “there are (good?) people on both sides of that,” and “they admitted their guilt.” So much for the possibility of coerced, false confessions and prosecutorial misbehavior: It does not ever happen in “Trumpworld,” particularly when the defendants are poor and African American.

The extent to which this president is willing to deny reality and to subvert justice is chilling. May we somehow, someday, be able to remove the stain he leaves on every facet of our nation.

Oren Spiegler

South Strabane Township