Saturday, November 19, 2016

Flashback: Donald Trump Civil Rights Icon The 1990's Edition.

Flashback. The Washington Post reports on Donald Trump the Civil Rights icon:
Mar-a-Lago is a historical mansion with more than 100 rooms that opened in 1927 and was once home to Marjorie Merriweather Post, then one of the richest women in the world. Trump bought the estate from a foundation in 1985 and used it as a private residence for about a decade. In 1995, Trump turned the home into an exclusive private club, adding a swimming pool, beauty salon, spa, clay tennis courts and a croquet court. The ballroom was renovated in 2005 and is now called the "Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom."

The club's website states: "Membership at the club provides the highest privileges and an elite lifestyle reserved for a select few." The club charges a $100,000 initiation fee plus annual dues of $14,000. ....

As soon as Trump moved into the neighborhood, he clashed with the Palm Beach establishment, battling them in a series of lawsuits. Trump alleged that the town was discriminating against him and his club because it was open to Jews and African Americans. At one point, Trump's lawyer sent each town council member a copy of two movies about discrimination: “A Gentleman’s Agreement,” about a journalist who pretends to be Jewish to expose anti-Semitism, and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” about a white couple’s reaction to their daughter bringing home a black fiance, The Washington Post reported.

In a 1997 Wall Street Journal article about the club, then-director of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham Foxman praised Trump's efforts: "He put the light on Palm Beach. Not on the beauty and the glitter, but on its seamier side of discrimination. It has an impact."


Donald Trump: the Civil Rights icon the 1990's edition. In today's America, being a bigot is no way to make it to the Forbes 400.