Yusef Salaam Credit: Ariama C. Long photo
If the condemnation aimed at Trump and his recent conviction by a choir of noted or elected Black politicians needed a soloist, then New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam would be an easy choice.
Salaam, one of the so-called “Central Park Five” falsely accused, tried, and wrongfully imprisoned for beating and raping a jogger in Central Park more than 30 years ago, mimicked an ad Trump placed in New York newspapers calling for the state to bring back the death penalty.
In his open letter—a full-page response, Salaam said, “On May 1, 1989, almost thirty-four years ago, Donald J. Trump spent $85,000 to take out full-page ads in The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and the New York Newsday, calling for the execution of the Central Park Five, an act he has never apologized for, even after someone else confessed to and was convicted of the crime, the convictions of all five of us were overturned, and we were renamed the Exonerated Five.”
While Trump’s ad did not specifically call for the execution of the young men, never mentioning the names of Salaam, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, and Antron McCray, his intentions were clear and implicitly targeted them.
“You were wrong then, and you are wrong now,” the ad, entitled “Bring Back Justice & Fairness. Build a Brighter Future for Harlem.” continued. Salaam said he wished Trump no harm, but “I hope that you exercise your civil liberties to the fullest and that you get what the Exonerated 5 did not get: presumption of innocence, and a fair trial.”
Trump’s conviction this week had a karmic aspect: He was convicted in the same courthouse where the Central Park Five heard their unjust fateful verdict. Among the most passionate voices in the choir of notables was the Rev. Al Sharpton, who devoted many hours on the air and elsewhere to pleading on behalf of the Five: “These children had to hear vitriol from people whose anger was incited by a man who spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for their execution,” he told the press. “Now the shoe is on the other foot. Donald Trump is the criminal and those five men are exonerated. I’m reminded of Dr. King’s proverb that the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”
More precisely, King referred to the “moral arc of the universe,” which is all the more meaningful and ironic since Trump and the word moral cannot be said in the same sentence.
Salaam does not appear to be gloating about Trump’s verdict and possible imprisonment, but there are millions of Americans who would love to see him locked up, and that would recall another moment of vindication, reminding us of his chant to lock up Hillary Clinton.
As we know so well in the Black parlance, what goes round comes round. This one for Trump has a karmic flavor.
Reprinted from the Amsterdam News
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