“Political promises are much like marriage vows. They are made at the beginning of the relationship between the candidate and the voter, but are quickly forgotten.” – Dick Gregory
The Republican and Democratic parties have distinct strengths and weaknesses within subgroups of the U.S. population. However, when one loses followers, they do not automatically move to the right or the left. When it is one major issue like abortion, like last election, a huge wave to the other side is not a goodbye forever to a party that has politically served a voter’s needs for years. Once the election is over and those who voted against their party return and it’s party business as usual.
Since Hamilton and Jefferson split the country during the first Congress in 1798 until recently, this has been the case for the two major parties. Trans-American migration has made putative political adjustments also. During the Great Depression, Blacks moved to the left. This was the last major group to deflect in our two party system. Based on a recent Pew study, this has been slowly changing since many Black voters are feeling left behind after the election was over.
Since the Civil Rights era, Democratic candidates have had wide support from Black voters. Yet a number of Black youth groups have been warning Democrats their vote is no longer a guarantee.
“A president’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
Like clockwork before every election, Democrats make their annual pitch to Black voters. With polls showing Black voters upset with the economy, Biden’s support for Hamas and allowing thousands of illegal immigrants to sneak into our nation, Biden is running scared within America’s Black communities.
Biden kicked off his Black voting pilgrimage recently with a commencement speech at all Black Morehouse College in Georgia. And it wasn’t what you’d expect from the president of the United States to say to educated Black graduates from a historic, distinguished southern Black college.
Biden talked about white supremacy, systemic racism, George Floyd, Black men being killed in the streets and Republicans stopping Blacks from voting. Yet Georgia just featured two Black men as Senate nominees in 2022? When Biden said America is racist and Morehouse grads will fail if he is not reelected, he did a tremendous disservice to one of America’s finest schools and its graduates.
Considering this was the first time in months Joe Biden has publicly engaged with college students, especially against the backdrop of the hot-button war in Gaza, this was not the time or place to talk about racism. Biden stooped to his newest low. A commencement speech should inspire the young graduates to venture into the world and challenge them to conquer opportunities confronting them.
Morehouse is unique regarding social justice issues with Martin Luther King as their most famous alumni. After Biden’s speech, a student told a CNN reporter, “The university prides itself for its legacy of peaceful protests.” He added, “Joe Biden knows nothing about us or what we’ve gone through.”
“You can quote me. The future of this democracy depends on me being reelected.” – Joe Biden
If Biden’s performance at Morehouse set the tone for his campaign to convince Black Americans to circle their wagons around Democrats next election, he’s in big trouble. U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said “I’ve got news for Mr. Biden. This is 2024 and it’s not the Jim Crow South. Contrary to Biden’s pessimistic racial characterizations, the reality is that Morehouse grads do extremely well in life.”
Today, educated Black youths want more than an empty promise for their vote. After they watched the gains they made under Donald Trump disappear in three years, they’ve lost trust in Democrats and Biden to renew their faith.
“Trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” – Stephen King
In 2020, Joe Biden said, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.” In 2022, Roland Martin condemned Black ministers who allied with Trump. Just two weeks ago, Charles Barkley claimed, “If I see a Black person walking around with Trump’s mugshot, I’ll punch him in the face.” The left’s greatest fear is Black voters will begin to vote like other voters.
New Gallup Poll data shows the Democrats longtime advantage with Latino, Asian and Blacks is at its lowest point in over 60 years. This is a huge deficit for Biden and Democrats. Black Americans and other minorities have been upwardly mobile in the last two decades. As more graduate from college and learn the real history of America, the left’s Great Society rhetoric no longer resonates.
According to data from the Financial Times, the most loyal part of the Democratic coalition wants more. They could vote Republican in numbers not seen since Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected in the 1950s. Blacks have little interest in the progressives focus on the environment and abortion. To Black voters, climate change means buying an EV that does not interest them. They’d rather have kids than abort them. They’re concerned about family safety, job security, inflation and high prices.
According to Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, the Black voter support in national and state polls for Trump has been very robust. While older Black voters support Biden, it’s the younger Black voters the Democrats fear losing. Many are frustrated with Biden’s inaction on their many priorities. They’re displeased with his economy, promises he doesn’t keep, and illegal immigrants taking their jobs.
Ben Franklin wrote, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Black America has very little to show for its unwavering support for Democrats. And today’s Black youth is questioning that unwavering loyalty. African Americans are Americans first. They have the same feelings as other Americans have. They know many of the things that made America a great nation in the past have gone away under Joe Biden. It’s no wonder educated Black voters are running away from the left.
According to a Wall Street Journal poll, 57% of Black men plan to support Biden, compared to 30% who said they’d vote for Trump. This would be catastrophic for Joe Biden. Four years ago, 87% of Black men voted for Biden. Last election, 93% of Black women voted for Biden, and he barely won.
Black Americans have seen how the left has abused the judicial system trying to take down Donald Trump. They’ve watched him walk a mile in their shoes. They now realize no one is safe in a nation that does not dispense justice prudently. Many feel it’s time for a change in leadership. And they’d like to see that leadership start from the top down on Election Day – not later from the bottom up.
Many Black voters realize they’ve been giving away their vote to Democrats for years and they got nothing in return for it. They feel short changed and many hope to change the script next election. Good luck if they do.
“Capitalism knows only one color: that color is green; all else is necessarily subservient to it, hence, race, gender and ethnicity cannot be considered within it.” – Thomas Sowell
