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Will Black Men Rally Behind Kamala Harris?
They Won’t Be Told to “Shut Up and Vote!”
I write this not as a representative of Black men but as an observer. Black men, like Black people, are not a monolithic group, yet there is a measurable trend suggesting some Black men were drifting toward Donald Trump. A recent poll found that 6% of Black women and 16% of Black men in Pennsylvania support the former president. I had my own theories as to the reasons. I happened to be listening in on a live chat on X of a group of Black men debating the election. I hit the sweet spot of disaffected Black men, looking to impact this election and politics in general. In the middle of the chat, news broke that Joe Biden was dropping his reelection bid.
The original focus of the chat was how to get around gatekeepers, particularly in the Democratic Party. Some participants have been involved with what they called “the movement” for some years, attempting to raise the recognition and involvement of Black men. Different speakers brought up a few main themes:
- Disillusionment with the Democratic Party that hasn’t done enough for Black people, men in particular.
- Frustration about being told to “shut up and vote,” as if their concerns weren’t valid.
- The feeling that Democrats take the Black vote for granted…
