title:  WATCH: Trump Supporter Calls For Sending Black People Back To Africa
text: Donald Trump s pathetic outreach effort to sway black voters into supporting him just took a major hit.Just when you thought Trump and his supporters couldn t say anything worse to offend black people, a North Carolina pastor who supports the Republican nominee just pitched a  let s send black people back to Africa  plan reminiscent of similar ideas racists have had throughout American history.During an interview with CNN host Carol Costello, Thomas Rodgers, Sr. of Antioch Road to Glory International Ministries advocated on the air for  returning  black people to Africa to get jobs building a road to the United States across the Atlantic Ocean.Rodgers claimed that African-Americans  do not seek dual citizenship  and said that is why black people join gangs. Oh, he also says black people have  no vision  and  no leadership. African-Americans are the only people in the world who do not seek dual citizenship. That s why Chicago gangs, California gangs, the Crips and the Bloods and Detroit in Michigan   we have gangs in the streets because blacks have no vision, they have no leadership. Costello then asked Rodgers to explain his idea to build a bridge to Africa, and that s when the interview completely went off the rails. Matter of fact, where our ancestors came from, from the Indian Ocean all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, that s 4,000 miles and we want to go back and help with the highways all the way across, to create jobs, train rails, pipelines, oil, petroleum. They create jobs for young people that can t find jobs here, that the Democrats have not did. Of course, the unemployment rate in the black community dropped to 8.2 percent under the policies of President Obama, a Democrat and it was 6 percent under Democratic President Bill Clinton. So Rodgers is wrong on that point.A confused Costello asked,  So you are suggesting young people in trouble should go back to Africa, perhaps to find jobs? Rodgers argued semantics, claiming that he is just calling for black people  to return  to Africa, which is basically the same thing as going back, just using a different wording. And then he claimed that black people don t want to stay in this country. It s a clause in the United Nations charter, our right to return, to help build infrastructure. Everybody don t want to stay here. We are skilled people. Rodgers  remarks drew laughter from strategist Angela Rye, whose facial reactions while Rodgers spoke were the same that every normal person watching at home were making, pointed out that building a literal bridge between the United States and Africa is impossible.Here s the video via YouTube.The suggestion that black people should be sent back or  returned  to Africa has been around for a long time, particularly by white supremacists who want to turn America white again, which is why they support Donald Trump.It s offensive and suggests that black people are not capable of living in Western societies.The fact is, however, that systemic racism in this country has held African-Americans back and that is what needs to change. Black people do not need to be sent back anywhere. The system just has to be fixed so that it benefits everyone equally.Rodgers  remarks should guarantee that Republicans never get a vote from a black person ever again.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images