The president of the Coalition of African American Pastors (CAAP) endorses Donald Trump for president.
Rev. William Owens, who is endorsing the Republican candidate as a private citizen, says Trump deserves the chance to prove himself to Christian voters, including those in the black church. He asserts the Democrat Party has offered blacks nothing but failed policies.
Owens is planning to hold a press conference about his decision on Monday in the swing state of Nevada.
He states:
When I was first called to help others, I began an organization called the “Give Me a Chance Ministry.” Our goal was to provide scholarships, tutoring and mentoring programs to underserved students. One of the keys to that remarkably successful program was the fact that we asked nothing from the university involved other than that they give these students a chance to excel. That is the position that I find myself in today when looking at the best candidate for President. Donald Trump has humbly asked the African American community to give him a chance. After witnessing 50 years of failure from the Democratic Party, compounded by a growing hostility to religion in their platform, I feel that it is definitely time that we give Mr. Trump that chance to prove he can be a great President.
Owens, a black minister who marched with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights movement, has launched an ad campaign urging black voters to abandon the failed policies of the Democrat Party.
In an open letter to black voters, Owens states:
It is time we faced the truth. The policies embraced by the Democrats have failed us for decades. They have destroyed our communities, weakened our families, and doomed us to a future of dependency. What’s more, the Democrats now take our votes for granted and ignore our voices in favor of other interest groups.
“Be honest,” Owens addresses black voters. “Can you really say that Hillary Clinton speaks for you? Or understands the African American experience? We’re told that we should vote for her because … well, because blacks have always voted for Democrats.”
Owens says he came to the realization that his relationship with the Democrats was “completely one-sided.”
“They ask for everything—support, votes, unquestioning loyalty—and give nothing back,” he writes. “If we want to reclaim our power as voters, then African Americans need to demonstrate that we won’t allow ourselves to be used.”
Owens has been a fierce opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage. The black leader has condemned the narrative created by President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder that black civil rights is analogous to the agenda to achieve same-sex marriage.
“President Obama is a disgrace to the black community,” Owens told Breitbart News in March of 2015. “He is rewriting history. We didn’t suffer and die for gay marriage. We marched for opportunity, equality, justice, freedom from oppression. We are the true heirs of the civil rights movement.”
CAAP has since launched a new initiative called RISE, a grassroots network that seeks to unite “people of every race, creed, culture, and background,” to focus on defending faith, family, and justice.
Owens cites the issue of Supreme Court appointments as a major factor in his decision to endorse Trump.
“The simple truth is that the next President will appoint at least one Supreme Court justice, thereby shaping this country for decades to come,” he states. “By promising to nominate only constructionist jurists to the Supreme Court, Donald Trump has demonstrated that people of faith can trust him to defend religious freedom and traditional values.”
“On the issue that matters most, Mr. Trump is the only candidate that I could consider voting for,” Owens concludes.
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