Trump announces ‘pardon czar’ at Black History Month event, while White House heralds end of DEI

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Feb 20 said he had made Ms Alice Johnson, a Tennessee woman who was serving a life sentence for a drug crime before Mr Trump commuted her sentence, a “pardon czar” to advise him on further acts of clemency.

Mr Trump made the announcement at a Black History Month reception at the White House, roughly four weeks after he returned to office and began implementing sweeping rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government.

Mr Trump, who commuted Ms Johnson’s life sentence in 2018 and granted her a full pardon in 2020, asked her to advise him on other cases where pardons were warranted.

“Alice was in prison for doing something that today probably wouldn’t even be prosecuted,” Mr Trump told the crowd of mostly African American supporters, including golfer Tiger Woods, who joined the president on stage.

“You’ve been an inspiration to people, and we’re going to be listening to your recommendation on pardons,” he said to Ms Johnson. “You’re going to find people just like you.”

Mr Trump’s celebration of Black History Month contrasted with several executive orders he’s signed targeting DEI efforts, including one that directed federal agencies to terminate DEI programmes and encouraged private companies to do the same.

Mr Trump also ordered all agencies to identify potential targets for civil investigations, who could then be subjected to legal action.

The actions have been met with sharp criticism from civil rights organisations and racial justice advocates, who say DEI programmes have helped address historical inequities impacting Black Americans and people of colour in the workplace and other aspects of American life.

At the federal level, Mr Trump has also reinstated the death penalty, which has disproportionately impacted incarcerated Black Americans, according to research and experts.

Earlier on Feb 20, Mr Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Mr Stephen Miller, heralded those changes.

“He has ended all DEI across the federal government. He has terminated all federal workers involved in promulgating these unlawful policies. He has ended diversity, equity and inclusion in all federal contracting,” Mr Miller told reporters.

“The death penalty is back. Law and order is back. The streets are being made safe once again.”

Mr Trump called Black Americans an “indispensable core of America” at the White House event and decried focusing on 1619, the year the first recorded enslaved Africans arrived on American soil, saying that focus should instead be placed on 1776, the year the US declared its independence.

Ms Kimberly Morella, 58, a Republican district leader in Westchester County, New York, who has voted for Mr Trump in the past three election cycles, said she agreed with his remarks.

“I prefer that our kids prefer to learn about 1776. I believe in the ideals that this administration is putting forward in helping all people, and it’s not a matter of playing into a victimhood in how we’re oppressed and how we want reparations.”

Mr Trump made some inroads with Black voters in the 2024 presidential election, particularly among Black men, but he only received 20 per cent of their vote, a one percentage point increase from 2020, according to Edison Research.

Former vice-president Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee last year, won 92 per cent of Black women voters nationwide, up two points from 2020.

Black voters accounted for 11 per cent of the share of voters nationwide.

Overall, Ms Harris won 86 per cent of the Black vote, compared to 12 per cent for Trump, according to Edison Research, the same share of support Mr Joe Biden received in 2020. REUTERS