President Trump delivers his State of the Union address, says criminal sentencing targets Blacks, calls for congress to outlaw late term abortions, wants charter schools over public education, and, among other issues, said his fight for a multi-billion dollar border wall will continue....Democratic congressional women there, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wore suffragette White to denounce sexism relative to the president's policies, and in support of reproductive rights and other rights for women....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog

United States President Donald Trump delivers his second State of the Union address before a joint chamber of congress on Feb. 5, 2019. Sitting behind the president to his direct left is Vice President Mike Pence, and to his direct right is United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat and the first woman to lead a majority party in congress. AP photo

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief

United States President Donald Trump

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-United States President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address before a joint chamber of congress Tuesday night, his second official State of the Union since taking office in 2017, and, like last year, amid a politically divided country on policy issues ranging from healthcare to tax reform, public education, immigration, infrastructure, the economy, and women's and Civil Rights.

The president spoke for nearly 121 min., almost one half hour longer than his State of the Union speech of 88 min. in 2018.

He had slimmed down a little, and was more articulate in his delivery than usual. 

"We must create a  new standard of living for the 21st century," said Trump. "An amazing quality of life for all our citizens is in reach."

He talked extensively on immigration reform and promised more troops at the southern border.

While the president denounced what he referred to as illegal immigration, he did not use his typical tough talk, and said he embraces immigrants that come into the country legally, adding that the southern border is " a very dangerous border."

A Republican real estate mogul and former television personality, the president was more diplomatic than last year as his poll numbers continue to fall, a byproduct in part of his demand for $5 billion in funding for a wall along the Mexican  border.

A partial shut down of the federal government that re-opened just a week and a half ago with stipulations is at the heart of the dispute, Trump and congressional Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, vowing to never back down on border wall funding that Democrats say is an irresponsible misuse of taxpayer monies. 

Trump courted the Black vote and discussed what he says is ground breaking criminal justice reform by his administration under the First Step Act. 

He said criminal sentencing is unconstitutional against Blacks. 

On hand for recognition by the president, among others, was Alice Johnson, the 63-year-old Black woman whom he granted clemency last year after 21 years in prison on a life sentence for first time non-violent drug convictions.

She wiped away a tear when the president asked that she stand and be recognized.

Trump called for congress to outlaw 'late term' abortions, wants charter schools over public education, and advocated for increased military spending.

Democratic female members of congress wore suffragette White, most of them, and by design as a symbol of their disdain for the Republican president, and his policies, and in support of reproductive and other rights for women. 

It prompted the president to push the women's movement, something he has been hesitant to do in the past, even though some 5 million women protested in the streets nationwide in January 2017 shorty after his inauguration, a women's moment led by Women's March that continues to strive. 

"We have more women serving in congress than anytime before," said Trump to an array of applause, a comment he made prior to demanding in his speech that 'late-term' abortions be made illegal, and on his terms.

Distinctly different this year in comparison to last year's State of the Union was a different House Speaker, now the the powerful Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat who was House speaker from 2007-2011, the first woman to lead a majority party in congress.

Pelosi's election this year by her congressionalo peers to House Speaker comes after congressional Democrats, in November, reclaimed control of the House of Representatives from Republicans, a record number of Democratic women winning office to congress during last year's midterm elections, and some 30 more Democrats on board Tuesday to hear the president's take this year on the state of the nation's union. 

The president said that "we can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever."

He acknowledged First Lady Melania Trump in attendance and said that Democrats and Republicans alike "must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good."

It all sounds good but is unrealistic, critics say, given the infighting between the two political parties that  has almost taken the country hostage, not to mention a still pending Russian investigation over the 2016 presidential election and a vast number of indictments of the president's former associates, including a three-year prison sentence for his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who is now ready to talk. 

The nation's 45th president, Trump said he wants to bridge the partisan divide, an unlikely agenda, whether sincere or not, given his stances on issues such as healthcare, immigration, and tax reform, stances that his critics, largely Democrats, say are racist, and detrimental to the nation's most vulnerable people. 

Speaking on the economy, Trump, who enjoys a majority in the Senate, said that his administration had created "5.3 million more jobs and 600,000 new manufacturing jobs."

The president pushed for infrastructure reform, complimented himself as to congressional passage of the VA Accountability Act, and said jobs have become increasingly more available to Americans since he took office. 

But he did not mention the trade wars, federal deficits, and unemployment disparities between Blacks and their White counterparts .

Unemployment rates across the board have  "reached their lowest levels ever reported," said Trump.

According to research by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate nationally is at 4% and for Blacks it dropped to 7% in December, the lowest since the government began tracking the figure in 1972.

It peaked for Blacks at 16.8% in 1984 and has declined about a percentage point over the last eight years, and after Obama took office in 2009.

The unemployment rate for Latinos is at 4.5%, slightly lower than the 4.8% that was reached in 2006, and in 2007.

Black leaders say the unemployment rates in the Black community are still deplorable and that the president is being disingenuous in suggesting that the Black community has prospered economically under his leadership.

Trump advocated for lower health care prices and protections for preexisting conditions, an issue prevalent in gubernatorial races last year, including in Ohio where Democrat Richard Cordray lost to Republican Mike DeWine, who, as the then Ohio attorney general, had sued against protections for preexisting conditions. 

Trump spoke on foreign tariffs, NATO and taxes, which in spite of his insistence to the contrary, currently  benefit  the rich and disenfranchise the wotking class poor, and Black people, among others. 

And he bragged that he and congressional Republicans had eliminated the individual health care mandate under Obamacare.

He touched on energy and oil and natural gas, and said that America is now a "net  exporter of energy."

The nationwide opiate crisis was mentioned, with the state of Ohio, which was not mentioned, garnering second place nationwide for drug related deaths from opiates.

Also highlighted were the farm  bill and the now defunct Iran Contra Deal reached under Obama that the president called "disastrous."

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.