‘Send her back!’ chant shows Trump’s ugly plan to get reelected

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‘Send her back!’ chant shows Trump’s ugly plan to get reelected

Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN

(CNN) — In a moment of unrestrained demagoguery, President Donald Trump presided Wednesday over a crowd chanting “Send her back! Send her back!” about an American Muslim congresswoman who he targeted with racist attacks.

The scenes at a North Carolina rally provided an ugly overture to a 2020 election campaign already soaked in hate. They exemplified the tribal politics and white nationalism that Trump is making clear he plans to ride to reelection, no matter their impact on America’s fragile societal harmony.

The chants of “Send her back!” referred to Somalia-born, American citizen Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, one of four minority lawmakers attacked by Trump over the weekend. The invective from the crowd replaced the “Lock her up!” and “Build the wall!” chants of Trump’s first campaign with a jarring racial refrain that the commander-in-chief, speaking from behind a podium bearing the symbolic presidential seal, made no effort to stop.

Reinforcing days of attacks on the four progressive Democratic women, known as “The Squad” on Capitol Hill, Trump questioned their patriotism and highlighted some of their controversial comments on issues including Israel, law enforcement and the September 11th terrorist attacks, in some cases distorting their records.

“They don’t love our country. They are so angry,” Trump said, lambasting the group as “hate filled extremists.”

“If they don’t like it let them leave, let them leave,” Trump said.

Other presidents, like Richard Nixon for instance, have used veiled racial messaging in elections. But there is no modern equivalent of a US president so openly encouraging racial and tribal undercurrents on the campaign trail in order to consolidate his own power.

“We’ve had racist presidents,” CNN presidential historian Timothy Naftali said on “Anderson Cooper 360.”

“But they did not express their racism as head of state, the way that Donald Trump through his actions — most importantly the tweets the other day and how he responded to Charlottesville — the way that President Trump has done.”

Democratic presidential candidates reacted to the menacing scenes by saying they showed why Trump must be driven from office.

“It’s vile. It’s cowardly. It’s xenophobic. It’s racist. It defiles the office of the President,” California Sen. Kamala Harris wrote on Twitter.

Former Vice President Joe Biden tweeted, “Mr President, I am here to tell you this. This is OUR country. The United States of America. You’ll never understand what makes us strong.”

The President was making his first appearance on the trail since escalating his attempt to make the group of congresswomen of color, who are well to the left of most liberals and who in some cases have their own history of inflammatory rhetoric — a proxy for the entire Democratic Party.

The showdown is revealing the central question of the 2020 election campaign. Will Trump’s embrace of searing racial grievances, tough immigration commentary and rhetorical targeting of non-white adversaries that helped electrify his mainly white, blue-collar base and win the White House in 2016 deliver him a second term?

Or will the tactic drive away some moderate, suburban voters around cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee who he needs to return to his fold to keep a similarly narrow path to victory open in 2020? And while it is likely to solidify Trump’s base, will such an approach ignite record breaking Democratic turnout?

Evidence from the midterm elections in 2018 suggests that Trump’s scorching immigration rhetoric worked in deep red Republican states. But it backfired elsewhere as Republicans lost the House. According to CNN exit polls, only 23% of respondents who voted Democratic said immigration was their greatest concern. And health care, on which Democrats based their campaign, was the defining issue of the election and for 41% of voters.

Still, though the midterms were a referendum on Trump, he wasn’t on the ballot — a factor that means that the lessons of 2018 cannot be simply transferred to 2020.

And there is another variable in 2020 that could be decisive: Hillary Clinton will not be involved. The Democratic nominee was a hugely polarizing force as she carried her own immense political baggage and as well as that of a pair of two-term Democratic presidents — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — on her back.

The President lost the popular vote and only carried the three crucial swing states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — by a combined total of less than 100,000 votes. A less controversial Democratic nominee would make Trump’s path back to the White House even more narrow — a fact that explains his need to rough up his opponent with the most toxic, polarizing campaign possible.

Trump’s strategy

Often Trump’s political gambits seem impulsive. But the experience of recent years shows the President also has a diabolical sense of his own political interests.

For any other commander-in-chief, a reputation for racism would not just raise questions about political viability, it would be a historic legacy stain. But far from being shamed, Trump is pleased with the strategic deliverable of “The Squad” that he sees as working for him on several levels 16 months from election day.

“I do think I’m winning the political fight. I think I’m winning it by a lot,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

“I think that they are not espousing the views of our country the four congresswomen.”

Aides told CNN that the President plans to press on with the extreme tone of recent days. He believes that by forcing party leaders to rally around “the squad” he has created an impression that all Democrats are in thrall to the radicalism that puts the women far to the left of most Americans.

The theory is that moderate voters will be scared off by what he says are “socialist” positions on health care, climate change and taxation, will conflate the Democratic nominee with the party’s most radical elements and will therefore swallow their doubts about the President.

Trump’s campaign against the squad occurs as the pro-Trump media paints its most well known member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — who he referred to as “Cortez,” because “I don’t have time to go with three different names” — as a new hate figure for conservatives.

Polling shows that she is a tempting adversary for Trump.

In a Quinnipiac University national poll in March, the New York lawmaker had a 23% approval rating. She polled at 2% among Republicans and only 20% among independent voters.

But some Republicans argue that Trump could have accomplished his goals without using specifically racist language against the women that turned the episode into a four-day Washington firestorm and could play into attacks by Democrats on Trump’s conduct and character.

“I thought it was below the dignity of the office. And quite frankly I thought, why do you want to get into this fight?” said Bob Vander Plaats, an evangelical conservative leader from Iowa.

“It was like an inter-party fight and he stepped into it,” Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, told CNN’s Brianna Keilar.

Trump’s next step

Trump’s decision to rationalize rather than deny his racist approach hints at a more sinister aspect of his strategy.

Of the squad members, Ocasio-Cortez is Hispanic, Omar is a Somalia-born Muslim, Rashida Tlaib is also Muslim and Ayanna Pressley is black. All are US citizens, three born in America.

Together, they are the personification of the diverse, multi-racial and rising ethnic demographic tide that Trump’s entire political approach has long painted as an existential threat to traditional, white, America where he draws most of his support.

Just by drawing the squad into the spotlight, Trump is presenting his “Make America Great Again” base with powerful imagery. By branding their calls for reform as an unpatriotic revolt against American values and by saying they should “leave” the country if they don’t like it, Trump is sending the most overt racial signals by any president in decades.

Having presented all Democrats as hostage to such influences the eventual next step of Trump’s strategy will be to anchor them to the eventual nominee and define him or her as similarly extreme.

This is a campaign plan born of necessity and inclination.

Trump’s frequent past record of racial prejudice suggests his targeting of the four women is a reflection of his true impulses as much as a transactional political strategy.

The President also has the luxury of knowing that his political base is impermeable to shocks like the recent racism row. An interview by CNN’s Randy Kaye with female Trump supporters in Dallas encapsulated the steadfastness of Trump’s base and their absorption of his message on Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues.

“He was saying that if they hate America so much because what we’re seeing out of them and hearing out of them, they hate America,” Dena Miller, one of the women said. “If it’s so bad, there’s a lot of places they can go.”

The President’s reluctance to expand his support while n office means that his only hope of a second term is an aggravated base election in the same post-industrial swing states he won in 2016.

An approval rating that has never hit 50% in most polls and is in the historical danger zone for presidents seeking a second term means Trump will likely lose a referendum on his term. So he needs to negatively define, and then destroy his opponent.

The strong economy probably will not save him either, since there is a double-digit gap between his approval rating on that issue and the public’s perception of him overall.

This is not a campaign strategy for the squeamish. It will subject the country to months of recriminations and fresh polarization. It depends on a President who is unusually unconcerned about his own reputation and who can command the dark political arts needed to dirty up conventional candidates dragged into his gutter.

And it also implies a willingness to deliberately incite racial angst, fear, and public discord that may be impossible to control and is almost certain to damage America’s social fabric.

Above all, it calls for Trump to prioritize his own quest to retain power over national harmony.

The President has already shown he ticks all the above boxes.

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Police Warn Flushing Drugs Creates ‘Meth Gators’

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Police Warn Flushing Drugs Creates ‘Meth Gators’

By CNN

The Loretto Police Department posted a warning to facebook on saturday, after officers found a suspect trying to flush methamphetamine and paraphernalia down the toilet.

they say it’s becoming a big issue for the city because drugs in the sewer system end up in retention ponds before they are sent downstream.

authorities are afraid that if the drugs make it far enough, they will end up being consumed by gators and other animals.

their facebook post said “ducks, geese, and other fowl frequent our treatment ponds and we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do.”

State Representative Bob Freeman Endorses Mayor Briley

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State Representative Bob Freeman Endorses Mayor Briley

NASHVILLE – Tennessee State Representative Bob Freeman has endorsed Mayor David Briley’s bid for re-election on August 1.

“It’s an honor to have an endorsement from Representative Freeman,” Briley said. “He’s a well-respected member of our state legislature, and he’s been an active, contributing Nashville resident for years.”

Rep. Bob Freeman was elected to office last fall, giving Tennessee Democrats a seat in the House that previously belonged to Republicans for decades. Outside of his public work, Freeman is Vice President of Real Estate Investment and Development with Forestar Group, Inc. and serves as a Board Member for the TN Environmental Council and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy among others.

“I have no doubt that David Briley is the right person to lead Nashville right now,” Freeman said. “We are at a critical moment, and our mayor has been steering us in the right direction since coming into office. He needs another four years.”

As Early Voting begins, Freeman joins a number of other civic leaders in Nashville who have endorsed Mayor Briley’s campaign, including Phil Bredesen, Howard Gentry, Brenda Wynn, Pat Shea, Bishop Jerry Maynard, and Freeman’s father, Bill Freeman.

Why Trump’s racist dog whistle won’t work this time

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Why Trump’s racist dog whistle won’t work this time

By Frida Ghitis

Editor’s note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN and The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author; view more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) — Donald Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich Trump, was born in Kallstadt, Germany, and emigrated to the United States as a teenager. (According to one historian, he was thrown out of his country of birth for failing to perform mandatory military service.) Now Friedrich’s grandson has become President of the United States, and is trying to fuel a re-election campaign by stoking nativist resentment.

On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted what you might call the unofficial launch of his 2020 dog-whistle re-election campaign.

It was so inflammatory that it burnt through the hesitations of cautious editors. CNN plainly, correctly, called it a “racist attack.” The President sarcastically suggested that some of his non-white critics are not real Americans. He urged that “Progressive Democrat Congresswomen,” the best-known of whom happen to be women of color, should go back to their countries. The “Congresswomen,” he wrote, “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world…” should leave.

He was most likely referring to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, born in New York; Rashida Tlaib, born in Michigan; Ayanna Presley, born in Massachusetts; and Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born naturalized American. They are all US citizens, like him, like his wife, his in-laws, and his ex-wives. They are Americans.

Perhaps I’m overly optimistic, but I think Trump has Americans pegged wrong. This electoral strategy will backfire.

The America I have known is made up primarily of people who are intrigued and attracted to people of different backgrounds.

And although there has always been a segment that does not trust outsiders — and bigots who consider non-whites inferior — most Americans are not racists, not bigots, and not nativists. So why is Trump, the man who possesses a peculiar political instinct, betting his re-election on dividing Americans and turning them against their better instincts?

He thinks it worked the first time. But this is not 2016. In 2016, the entire world was terrified by ISIS terrorists beheading hostages and blowing up nightclubs. The Great Recession was recent enough that people still feared the recovery might unwind, making it easier for many people to believe that immigrants were taking away their jobs. He could frighten people by talking about rapists at the border, promising better health care, and an administration of “only the best people.” Back then, we didn’t know quite how much Trump lied, and how many of his promises he would be unable to keep.

It’s different now. Trump’s dog-whistle, formerly perceived mainly by extremists, is now a trumpet we can all hear.

Sure, his racism, his cruelty against migrants and his family separation policy will still play well with a segment of the electorate. But today, Americans see Trump for what he is. They see his campaign and what he is trying to do. When he tweets about corrupt, inept governments, we think about Donald Trump. When he tells the descendants of immigrants that they should leave, we think perhaps Friedrich Trump’s grandson is the one who doesn’t belong here.

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Chicago Defender, an influential black newspaper, published its last print edition and will now be completely digital

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Chicago Defender, an influential black newspaper, published its last print edition and will now be completely digital

By Amir Vera, CNN

(CNN) — The Chicago Defender, the influential African American newspaper that has told the stories of black residents of Chicago and beyond for the last 114 years, has ceased printing and moved to a digital-only format.

The storied African American newspaper’s final print edition went out on July 10, and it became completely digital the next day, according to the Defender’s website.

Hiram E. Jackson, CEO of the newspaper’s owner Real Times Media, said in a statement the company understands this digital “rite of passage” will be painful for loyal readers of the paper. But he said adopting a new distribution model “makes business sense in this digital age.”

The Defender published as both a weekly and a daily during its long history. As a digital publication, the newspaper’s website will be updated daily, the Defender’s website said.

Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the Chicago Defender in 1905 in the kitchen of his landlord’s apartment, according to the Defender. In the early 1900s, the paper played a large role in the Great Migration during which where millions of black families from the south moved north. The Defender published editorials, articles and cartoons describing the benefits of moving north. The paper also posted job listings and train schedules to expedite the migration.

As a result of the Defender’s campaign, the black population in Chicago tripled between 1916 and 1918, according to the paper’s website.

Civil Rights activist and author Timuel Black told CNN affiliate WBBM-TV his family was among the millions of black families to migrate north because of the Defender.

“The paper said, ‘Come North, young man,'” he said. “Chicago was one of the most attractive of the places that they came to.”

The Defender campaigned for anti-lynching legislation as well. The paper’s children section, known as the Bud Billiken Page, led to the creation of the famous Bud Billiken Day Parade and Picnic, according to the Defender’s website.

“It was a unifying factor,” Black told WBBM. “It was an inspiration, informational paper that we looked forward to.”

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5 Basic Things Everyone Should Know About Their Car

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5 Basic Things Everyone Should Know About Their Car

Driving can be expensive if you lack basic car-care knowledge or proper insurance. Regular maintenance can prevent costly breakdowns and extend your car’s life, and the right coverage can protect your wallet in the event of an accident.

Here are five need-to-know basics:

1. Know car insurance basics. Before getting behind the wheel, know these terms:

• Liability. Every state requires you to carry liability insurance, which covers injuries to others or damage to others’ property. You may hear it referred to as Property Damage (PD for short) or Bodily Injury (BI for short).

• Collision vs. comprehensive. Collision pays for repairs to your car if you hit another vehicle or crash into an object. Comprehensive covers other incidents. For example, hitting a deer, hailstorm damage, vandalization or theft.

• Deductible. This is the amount you’ll pay out-of-pocket for repairs before insurance kicks in.

• Endorsement. Sometimes referred to as a “rider,” an endorsement refers to a change or addition to existing coverage. For example, Erie Insurance has an endorsement called ERIE Rate Lock which customers can add to policies so their rates will increase only if they change their policy, drivers, vehicles or their address, even if they file a claim.

“Car insurance can be complicated, so we don’t expect drivers to know everything, but we do recommend understanding a few basics,” says Jon Bloom, vice president, personal auto, Erie Insurance. “Working with an insurance agent can help you get the right coverage for you, based on your car and budget.”

2. Read the owner’s manual. Learn the car’s bells and whistles and how often to rotate tires, check belts and hoses and change the oil. Check dashboard warning lights. Red typically indicates your car may be unsafe to drive. Yellow or orange usually means you should get it checked but it’s not urgent. Green generally indicates a feature is working.

3. Check tires monthly. Proper tire pressure promotes good gas mileage and can extend tire life. Reference the sticker found inside the driver’s door for the recommended pressure. Don’t over inflate. Consider learning how to change a tire, a handy skill when assistance isn’t available.

4. Get regular oil changes. Some companies, like GM and Ford, equip vehicles with oil monitors so owners know when to change oil. If you don’t have this feature, reference your owner’s manual. Most manufacturers recommend changing oil between 5,000 and 7,500 miles, while synthetic oils are likely good for 10,000 to 15,000 miles.

5. Master the jump-start. Usually a car battery needs to be replaced every five years. While a dead battery is never convenient, it’s easy to jump start a car. Attach one red clamp to the positive terminal of the dead battery. The other red clamp goes on the positive terminal of the live battery. The black clamp attaches to the negative terminal of the live battery. The final clamp goes onto an unpainted metal surface on the dead car’s engine block to prevent hazardous sparking. Turn on the live car. Allow the dead car to run for at least a half hour to charge. Always double-check your owner’s manual to be sure your vehicle doesn’t require special jump-starting procedures.

By knowing the basics, you can hit the road with confidence.

More Women and Minorities Needed for Financial Planning Jobs

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More Women and Minorities Needed for Financial Planning Jobs

Americans’ need for competent and ethical financial advice continues to grow, but the population of professionals who can provide such advice is shrinking.

At the same time, the demographics of wealth in the U.S. are shifting. The average net worth of African American families increased by 30 percent from 2013 to 2016, according to the Federal Reserve. Women now control more than one-third of wealth in the country, according to The Boston Consulting Group. And an “InvestmentNews” report found the top-fifth of Latinos, or more than 2.1 million households, have an average wealth of more than $400,000.

Not reflecting these changes, however, are the demographics of today’s financial planning workforce. Less than one-fourth of the more than 84,000 Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professionals are women, and only 3.6 percent are Black or Latino.

The gap between the current state of the financial planning profession and what is needed in this shifting landscape presents big career opportunities for aspiring CFP professionals, particularly female and minority candidates.

“We need more financial planners,” says Brittney Castro, a Los Angeles-based Latina CFP professional. “It’s such a great career. You’re helping people with their money, you make good money, and you have ultimate freedom over your time. That’s a win-win-win.”

Financial planners earn a median pay of $89,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which also projects that job opportunities within the financial advisory industry are expected to grow by 15 percent between 2016 and 2026. This means CFP professionals can enjoy lucrative careers with long-term opportunity and room for growth, all while helping others.

The ways in which diverse financial professionals benefit their communities is multifaceted, according to Justin Sullivan, CFP, an African American investment advisor for a wealth management company in Atlanta. Giving back is a central part of the work, he says, whether through formal financial planning services or simple conversations with people in the community. “I think we take for granted what people know, especially when you talk about groups that have not historically been exposed to wealth.”

Becoming a CFP professional also provides opportunities to serve as a mentor for future generations of financial planners and encourage even greater diversity in the profession. “There are not many of us — women of color — who are financial planners, so I have a responsibility,” says Rianka Dorsainvil, a CFP professional in Washington, D.C. “I have to volunteer and raise my hand for leadership positions so other women of color can say, ‘I see her in me, so I can do that too.’”

To learn more about financial planning careers, visit cfp.net/become-a-cfp-professional.

Today’s CFP professionals take pride in meeting the growing need for financial advice, helping people in their community achieve their financial goals, and making a positive difference in their clients’ lives.

Prime Day: Amazon gives first glimpse of its deals

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Prime Day: Amazon gives first glimpse of its deals

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business

(CNN) — Amazon has revealed what’s on sale for Prime Day.

The annual sales extravaganza begins this Monday and will run for 48 hours. Similar to previous Prime Days, Amazon is slashing prices and offering more than one million deals as a way to drum-up spending during a typically slow summer sales period. Amazon also wants to drive people to subscribe to its Prime membership service.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon is emphasizing the deep discounts on its own gadgets and in-house brands in its deals preview, which it released Friday.

For example, an Amazon Echo will cost $49.99, which the company claims is half off its normal price of $99.99. But the discount is not as drastic as it might appear: The smart speaker is selling for $69.99 ahead of Monday’s event.

The better deal is the Echo Show, its smart speaker with a screen and premium speakers. That will cost $159.99 — $70 off its current list price of $229.99.

Other Amazon gadgets on sale include the Fire TV Stick with Alexa for $14.99 (Right now, it’s $39.99) and the Fire TV Cube for $69.99. That’s $50 less than its current price of $119.99.

Amazon Fire tablets are also getting reduced. It’s most advanced version, the Fire HD 10, will cost $99.99 — $50 less than its current price of $149.99.

These prices are similar to the deals Amazon offered on Black Friday of last year.

Amazon is discounting its in-house line of products, which its rapidly expanding. Men’s and women’s clothing from Amazon’s lines like Goodthreads and Amazon Essentials, will be up to 50% off. Its home goods brands, such as Presto! and Solimo, will be up to 30% off.

And its AmazonBasics brand, which encompasses everything from kitchenware to small electronics, will be up to 30% off.

Amazon is emphasizing its new Lady Gaga makeup brand, HAUS Laboratories. Prime members will be able to preoroder her new products for the first time.

But there are several name brands on sale, too. Some Under Armour clothing will be 40% off, Lacoste clothing will as much as 30% off and Eddie Bauer clothing will be as much as 60% off.

Electronics that aren’t from Amazon will also be discounted. For example, some Sony LED Smart TVs will be half off, Facebook’s Portal device will cost $79 (It usually runs for $199) and the Nintendo Switch will also be discounted.

Amazon’s biggest rivals are also offering Prime Day-like discounts on their websites. Target is mimicking the idea with “Deal Days,” a two-day event featuring similar deals. eBay has also rolled out sales for the entire month of July.

It’s not a surprise that other retailers want to chip away at Amazon on Prime Day. Although the company doesn’t disclose revenue from previous Prime Days, Amazon said last year’s sale was its “biggest global shopping event ever.”

“Prime Day has changed the terrain of the summer for retailers,” Adobe Digital Insights director Taylor Schreiner previously told CNN Business. “Retailers need an effective strategy to address it. The only guaranteed losing play is to ignore it.”

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Former Mayor of Nashville: Briley Best Positioned to Bring Prosperity to City

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Former Mayor of Nashville: Briley Best Positioned to Bring Prosperity to City

NASHVILLE – Former Nashville mayor, Tennessee governor and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Phil Bredesen has endorsed Mayor David Briley for re-election.

“Nashville needs the kind of leadership that Mayor Briley represents: the ability to listen and to bring people together and the intelligence to think through things carefully,” Bredesen said. “This is a time to think about how the city can prosper in the couple decades ahead, and there’s no one better positioned to do that than the mayor right now. I’m for him.”

He voiced his support for Mayor Briley at a fundraising event earlier this month. Video of Bredesen’s remarks are available here.

“Nashville’s path to becoming a world-class city started with the mayoral administration of Phil Bredesen,” Mayor Briley said. “I’m honored to pick up that legacy and lead us to a place where everyone in our city prospers.”

In just one year as mayor, David Briley has built a progressive record of accomplishment for the city:

· Provided the largest pay raise to teachers in more than a decade – and doing it without raising taxes.

· Launched Under One Roof 2029 to add more than 10,000 new affordable housing units by 2029.

· Put the Equal Business Opportunity Ordinance into effect, helping minority- and women-owned businesses have a fair shot at Metro contracts.

· Created Nashville GRAD, which helps MNPS graduates attend community college at no cost to them.

· Negotiated a new lease for the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena that keeps the Predators in Nashville for another 30 years and eliminates the tax subsidy on the arena.

· Announced more than 10,000 new jobs in Nashville since assuming office last year.

· Launched a capital spending plan that included $351 million for neighborhood projects, including parks, sidewalks and libraries.

Nashville Voice Endorses Mayor David Briley

The Nashville Voice
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Nashville Voice Endorses Mayor David Briley

By The Nashville Voice Editorial Board

It is of our opinion that there is only one candidate running for mayor who has a proven track record serving Nashville’s Urban Community.

That candidate is Mayor David Briley.

Nashville Voice strongly endorses the re-election of David Briley for his strong leadership regarding policies and legislation that will make a difference in the lives of all Nashvillians.

The following areas of importance helped us form this opinion:

1. He has the most diverse executive leadership team of any mayor in the history of Nashville.

Mayor Briley’s Chief of Staff, Finance Director, Chief Procurement Officer, and Senior Advisor are women. It is to be noted that three of those four are women of color. With his other administrative appointments there is a level of diversity never seen before in the Mayor’s office

2. This mayor has passed the more comprehensive inclusive procurement policy for women and minority owned businesses.

In the past women and minority owned businesses have traditional been locked out from Metro Contracts. Mayor Briley’s Equal Business Opportunity Program will level the playing field for all businesses.

3. Mayor Briley fully funded Nashville General Hospital (NGH) which is Nashville’s Public Safety Net Hospital.

NGH provides healthcare to thousands of people who are uninsured or underinsured. Last year alone NGH provided more than $60 million dollars in charitable care for Nashville’s most vulnerable population.

These are not just empty words or promises, but real action that help to progress issues not only important to minorities but the entire Nashville community.

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