Black politicians boycott event marking 400 years of US democracy after ‘degrading’ Trump comments

Assembly in Jamestown was first representative body in New World

Black politicians are boycotting an event to mark the 400th anniversary of a milestone in America’s democracy, over “degrading” racist comments made by Donald Trump.

African American members of the Virginia state legislature, said they would not participate in the ceremony at the historic city of Jamestown because the president was due to attend and deliver remarks.

“The commemoration of the birth of this nation and its democracy will be tarnished unduly with the participation of the president, who continues to make degrading comments towards minority leaders, promulgate policies that harm marginalised communities, and use racist and xenophobic rhetoric,” the group of politicians said in a statement.

The decision to boycott Tuesday’s event marking the 400th anniversary of the Virginia general assembly, which was formed in 1619 and established the basis for the system of representative democracy that exists in the US today, came after the president engaged in a series of racist and offensive comments targeting politicians of colour.

Two weeks ago, he told four Democratic congresswomen to “go back home”, sparking widespread outcry over his comments about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. The first three were born in the US, while Ms Omar came here as a refugee from Somalia two decades ago.

Over the weekend, Mr Trump launched an angry attack, one many considered racist, against Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings, whose committee is investigating the Trump administration, including the conditions it operates at the US-Mexico border, and at detention facilities for children and other migrants.

“Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA,” Mr Trump said on Twitter, claiming the congressman’s Maryland district was rat-infested.

On Monday, Mr Trump also attacked activist and politician Al Sharpton, who had denounced the president’s remarks about Mr Cummings.

While the Virginia politicians did not mention Mr Cummings specifically, they said the president’s “repeated attacks on black legislators and comments about black communities makes him ill-suited to honour and commemorate such a monumental period in history”.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed the Virginia black caucus was pushing “a political agenda”.

“President Trump passed criminal justice reform, developed opportunity zones securing record-setting investment in distressed communities, and pushed policies that created the lowest unemployment rates ever for African Americans, so it’s a bit confusing and unfortunate that the VLBC would choose to push a political agenda instead of celebrate this milestone for our nation,” she said.

The politicians said they will also boycott the rest of a week long series of events marking the 400th anniversary and have instead planned alternative commemorations in Richmond, Virginia’s capital.

Additional reporting by Associated Press