A Baltimore social activist has a message for U.S. President Donald Trump: 鈥渟top tweeting, start working.鈥�
Trump tweeted last week about Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings鈥� majority-black Baltimore district, calling it a 鈥渄isgusting, rat and rodent infested mess鈥� before concluding that 鈥渘o human being would want to live there.鈥�
Baltimore-born-and-raised activist Kwame Rose says he wants to see his city 鈥渢urn the tide鈥� on portrayals of his city such as the one given by the president.
鈥淲e should not look at people who live in low-income environments as less than,鈥� Rose told CTV News. 鈥淭hey are human beings, and they do want to live here, contrary to what the president said. We should be, if anything, providing resources to those individuals so that they can 鈥� play a role in contributing to society, more so than what they have the ability to right now.鈥�
Trump claimed Tuesday that he was receiving praise from Baltimore residents for 鈥減ointing out the tremendous corruption that鈥檚 taking place in Baltimore and other Democratic-run cities.鈥�
He has been retweeting pictures of ruined buildings and garbage allegedly in Baltimore since his tweetstorm went viral.
Rose said that there are areas and housing projects in Baltimore where residents do live in conditions with rodents and cockroaches, and that this is 鈥渘ot normal,鈥� but that 鈥減eople are subjugated to those types of conditions.
鈥淚 think it is right that we talk about the challenges, but not just in the sense to say 鈥榦h, this place is a dump,鈥� no, we should talk about the challenges and create solutions,鈥� Rose said.
Rose pointed out that ironically, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump鈥檚 son-in-law, who is now a senior Trump advisor, owned buildings and housing projects in Baltimore, a fact Trump seems to have forgotten when placing blame.
鈥淛ared Kushner鈥檚 family makes their money the same way Donald Trump鈥檚 father made his money, by owning housing projects throughout the country, and several of those buildings which are in deplorable conditions are owned by Jared Kushner himself,鈥� Rose said.
In 2017, Baltimore Country once found that Kushner Cos. with apartments within just 10 months.
Rose believes the word 鈥渋nfested鈥� was used in a 鈥渞acial context,鈥� and that Trump鈥檚 comments were not aimed at truly helping the people who live in Baltimore, but were a 鈥渢actical election strategy.
鈥淭here is a significant base here in America of white individuals who come from the same conditions in which Donald Trump was talking about (with Baltimore),鈥� Rose said. 鈥淵ou have poor white people who blame black and brown people for their lack of economic success. So, Donald Trump is speaking to a silent majority.鈥�
Rose is unafraid to ask politicians to do better in light of these comments.
His activism first came into the public eye after footage surfaced in 2015 of him confronting a Fox News reporter for the media鈥檚 representation of Baltimore and of protests happening in the city after the homicide of Freddie Gray, a black man who died while in police custody.
鈥�2019, and are we really invoking racism as a political tool to win an election?鈥� Rose said. He said it 鈥渃alls on Democrats,鈥� to be actively anti-racist, and condemn the president for using 鈥渞acist rhetoric.鈥�
The answer to Baltimore鈥檚 struggles isn鈥檛 tweets, according to Rose. It鈥檚 investment in the people who live there.
鈥淲e need investment in violence prevention programs, we need serious investment in drug rehabilitation centers,鈥� Rose said.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need more criticism, we need more helping hands.鈥�
