General Discussion

highplainsdem

(49,022 posts) Sun Jan 14, 2018, 01:05 PM Jan 2018

If you hear anyone say Trump isn't a racist b/c he & Rosa Parks both won a 1986 Ellis Island award..

Last edited Sun Jan 14, 2018, 02:12 PM - Edit history (2)

please show them this.

You're likely to run across RW arguments mentioning the Ellis Island award, as well as a photo showing Trump standing next to Rosa Parks, as Trump supporters try to claim he isn't a racist.

But his getting that medal doesn't mean what they want it to mean, and it's likely many of the RWers repeating this argument aren't even aware of what the award meant, at least for Trump.

David Brody repeated this nonsense on MTP today, but tweeted about it a couple of days ago:

Assuming mainstream media won't mention this: @realDonaldTrump & Rosa Parks together after winning the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity."My new book on @POTUS faith explores the side of him that media won't. https://tinyurl.com/y8y247rm

Kruse just posted a series of tweets taking that argument apart:

In an effort to "prove" President Trump isn't a racist, his defenders keep pointing to the fact that, in 1986, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor along with Rosa Parks. Well, about that....

First of all, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor was something that was hastily created that same year, in reaction to complaints about a previous award ceremony -- the Liberty Awards, which you can read about here:
https://t.co/4QrNDFhAgx

As part of the celebrations for the centennial of the Statue of Liberty, twelve naturalized American citizens were singled out for recognition (names below).

Immediately, though, people complained that the list of honorees didn't accurately reflect the true diversity of America's population.

So, as a result, a new committee headed by NYC real estate developer William Fugazy, took it upon itself to create a bigger list of awards.

And the list was huge. Though Trump's defenders keep singling out Trump and Rosa Parks as co-winners of the award, there were in fact EIGHTY different recipients that year, from a wide range of ethnic and racial backgrounds.

And more important, the award had *nothing* to do with celebrating individuals who had done anything positive in the realm of civil rights or race relations. It merely sought to honor Americans from different backgrounds who had succeeded in their chosen field.

Rosa Parks was honored for her achievements as an African-American civil rights activist. But Donald Trump was honored for being a real estate developer of German descent. Period.

To suggest -- as @TheBrodyFile did on "Meet the Press" this morning -- that Trump can't a racist because, 32 years ago, he won this award and Rosa Parks won it too is absolutely laughable. It's a shame @chucktodd didn't follow up on this but let that bizarre assertion stand.

And a few minutes after the last tweet above, Kruse retweeted this response from Dan Murphy:

Also, William Fugazy was a pal of Trump and Trump's political mentor, Roy Cohn. Fugazy perjured himself before a federal grand jury on Cohn's orders in a stock fraud case.

Repeat: Trump got the award ONLY because they gave it to a lot of people that year, and they gave it to him only because he was a real estate developer of German descent...and, probably, because the committee that handed out the award to 80 people that year was headed by a real estate developer who was a friend of Trump's.

3 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

If you hear anyone say Trump isn't a racist b/c he & Rosa Parks both won a 1986 Ellis Island award.. (Original Post) highplainsdem Jan 2018 OP

kick highplainsdem Jan 2018 #1

So, Trump's got a fugazi award? TheBlackAdder Jan 2018 #2

Yep. Not quite as fake as the "Star Diamond" awards given to many Trump businesses (link), highplainsdem Jan 2018 #3

highplainsdem

(49,022 posts)

1. kick

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Sun Jan 14, 2018, 02:08 PM

Jan 2018

TheBlackAdder

(28,211 posts)

2. So, Trump's got a fugazi award?

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Sun Jan 14, 2018, 02:33 PM

Jan 2018

highplainsdem

(49,022 posts)

3. Yep. Not quite as fake as the "Star Diamond" awards given to many Trump businesses (link),

Reply to TheBlackAdder (Reply #2)

Sun Jan 14, 2018, 02:43 PM

Jan 2018

but still pretty meaningless when you consider how many people got the medal and why Trump got it. If the only requirement was being a real estate developer whose ancestors included immigrants, that would have been all or almost all the real estate developers in New York.

As for the Star Diamond awards -- if you haven't already heard, you'll love this story:

Trump acquaintance 'Joey No Socks' helms firm that lavished awards on Trump businesses

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-joey-no-socks-awards-20160520-story.html

More than a dozen Donald Trump golf courses, hotels, casinos and private clubs have been honored with "Star Diamond" awards from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, a company that doles out shiny plaques representing "the most prestigious award of true excellence in hospitality."

The Trump Grill at Trump Tower has one. So does the Trump Buffet & Grill in the basement. Indeed the entire New York City skyscraper sports one of the plaques, for being "the ultimate residential building worldwide."

But when it comes to Trump, the academy isn't an independent observer.

The organization is run by Joseph Cinque, a longtime Trump acquaintance who goes by the nickname "Joey No Socks" and has a felony conviction for possessing stolen property.

As recently as last May, Trump himself was listed on the group's website as its "ambassador extraordinaire," and he appeared in a 2009 tribute video to Cinque in which he said: "There's nobody like him. He's a special guy."

But Trump told The Associated Press on Friday that he doesn't know Cinque well and was unaware of Cinque's criminal conviction.

"If a guy's going to give you an award, you take it," Trump said. "You don't tend to look up his whole life story."

An AP review shows that about half the roughly 30 American Academy of Hospitality Sciences trustees listed in the company's own press materials appear to be Trump friends and business associates.

At one point, Trump's two adult sons; the chief operating officer of the Trump Organization, Matthew Calamari; and Trump's longtime butler, Anthony Senecal; all served as trustees simultaneously.

-snip-

Reply to this discussion