Trump, Biden Both Courting Votes of Black Men
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 | Section A|San Antonio Express-News|ExpressNews.com Trump, Biden both courting votes of Black men Percentage who handler. “A lot of times, the (political) cast ballots may be rhetoric infuriates me,” he says, crucial difference “but I want the perspective of both sides.” He hopes to see is- By Donna M. Owens sues such as student loan debt WA SHINGTON POST and mass incarceration ad- dressed. “I don’t think people re- The television ad “Shop Talk” alize the true power a president shows a group of African Ameri- has. These decisions will affect can men — masked up, socially our kids’ kids. I definitely plan to distanced — seated inside a Black- vote.” owned barbershop in Durham, N.C. “Good governance counts,” ‘Often been ignored’ asserts one. “We need to have in- John Verdejo, 41, of Raleigh, dividuals in office like Joe Biden N.C., calls himself a “super-voter” and Kamala Harris,” says another. who casts ballots in every elec- In a radio spot airing on Black tion. “Black men are a demo- radio stations across the country, graphic that has often been ig- listeners hear from former NFL nored and, worse, made to look star Herschel Walker. “I’ve known like a threat,” says Verdejo, a con- Donald Trump for 37 years,” he tract administrator. “Yet we are says. “He keeps right on fighting fathers, educators, scientists, to improve the lives of Black business owners, religious lead- Americans. He works night and ers, (company) presidents and day. He never stops. He leaves media moguls, cultural influenc- nothing on the field.” Jim Watson /AFP via Getty Images ers and athletes at the top of our Move over, soccer mom. Amer- Attendees listen as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks during a Black Economic fields. We have plenty to say.” His ica’s presidential campaigns have Summit in Charlotte, N.C. Some Black men resent assumptions that they are all Democrats. say? Biden. anew coveted voter: Black men. Marc Little, 55, is a lawyer and Both Republicans and Democrats believe Democrats take their they’re spending on outreach to empower individuals to organize pastor. He is board chairman of are courting this demographic, votes for granted.” Black voters. and build political networks. the Center for Urban Renewal and for reasons that seem tied to re- Leo Terrell, 65, a civil rights The Black Voices for Trump co- “The guiding principles of our Education, a conservative Wash- cent voting patterns. According to lawyer in Los Angeles who’s ap- alition kicked off in late 2019 at a strategy to engage and mobilize ington think tank. He’s backing Pew Research Center, 64 percent peared on Fox News, is a case in rally in Atlanta where the presi- Black men this election cycle Trump. An evangelical Christian, of eligible Black women and 54 point. Democrats have “given in dent appeared. Dennard says (were) to start early and to meet Little is anti-abortion, favors lim- percent of eligible Black men vot- to the left wing, even violent ex- more than 100 events have taken them where they are,” says Bran- ited government and wants con- ed in 2016. tremists, and abandoned (their) place at venues including church- don Gassaway, DNC national servative justices appointed to the Black women overwhelmingly civil rights and equality-for-all es and Black-owned businesses. press secretary. “There is no one Supreme Court. “My inclination (98 percent) favored Hillary Clin- roots,” he says. “Joe Biden made Black Voices also hosts “Real Talk type of Black male experience, so is to first apply a biblical world- ton, but among Black men, she the assumption that if you’re Online!,” a YouTube show featur- it’s critical that we spend more view to my vote,” he says. won 81 percent. Trump got 14 per- Black you have to vote Democrat. ing such topics as entrepreneur- time listening than anything else, Notwithstanding voters like cent — still a relatively small per- Ifind that insulting to every Afri- ship. Dennard cites criminal jus- so brothers from all walks of life Little, the reality is that Black men centage, yet an improvement on can American because we don’t tice reform, funding for HBCUs feel our party is accountable to are overwhelmingly registered the 11 percent that, according to vote as one group.” and school choice as issues on them.” Democrats — and if decades of NBC exit poll data, Mitt Romney which Trump policies have bene- voting patterns hold true, the ma- won in 2012. Trump campaign efforts fited the Black community. Racial incident backlash jority could vote by a wide margin In addition, Pew found that Paris Dennard, RNC senior Trump has, however, faced Quentin James, co-founder of for Biden. Still, how wide that Black men (77 percent) are less communications adviser for more allegations of racism than the Collective PAC, which sup- margin proves to be and how likely than Black women (87 per- Black media affairs, said: “Trump any recent president — a situation ports progressive Black candi- many Black men turn out are cent) to identify as Democrats. Victory is appealing to all Black that could help Democrats to so- dates, thinks 12 percent to 17 per- among the factors that could af- And according to Gallup, Trump’s voters and we know that Black lidify the Black male vote. cent of Black men “might” vote fect the final result. approval rating is 8 points higher men will see all of the Black men In August, the Biden campaign for Trump, but he hopes it will be For now, it’s clear that Black (19 percent vs. 11 percent) among at our events, on staff at the White kicked off “Shop Talk,” a series of fewer. Black men, he says, are see- men — who have often been over- Black men than it is among Black House, the RNC, the Trump cam- discussions for Black men that ing “police officers shoot us in the looked by the political establish- women. paign, and on our Black Voices for has welcomed community lead- back, knee us, and kill our wives ment — are having their say. “This Terrance Woodbury, a partner Trump Advisory Board and feel ers and celebrities. The program and girlfriends. I am concerned if is a very important election for at HIT Strategies, whose clients included especially when they is a cousin of sorts to “Chop It Up,” he is reelected it will unleash an Black men,” says Vernard Alsber- include Democrats, told me the see, read and hear President which the Democratic National avalanche of white supremacists ry, 65, mayor of Hazel Crest in the firm’s focus groups and polling Trump’s record and his new Plati- Committee, together with the in our communities.” Chicago suburbs. The killing of show Republican appeals to some num Plan” — a set of proposals DNC Black Caucus, launched in Interviews with Black male vot- George Floyd and the Black Lives Black men — especially younger meant to appeal to Black voters — May 2019. ers have yielded thinking about Matter protests have weighed ones — are effective. According to “from all of our Black male surro- “Chop It Up” consists of bar- the campaign. James Walker, 25, heavily on him, and he wants his data, Black men “are not confi- gates all over the country.” bershop-style conversations that is a D.C. resident who worked his Trump out of the White House. dent that Democrats can and will Neither the Trump nor Biden are designed to center on Black way through Howard University “We must go to the polls,” he says, improve race relations. They also campaigns could say how much men and their concerns, and to Law School as an airline baggage “and carry our sons too.” College students facing barriers on casting ballots By Michelle Ye Hee Lee people feel even more motivat- WA SHINGTON POST ed,” said Kei Kawashima-Gins- berg, director of the Center for In- When students at the Universi- formation and Research on Civic ty of Texas were sent home this Learning and Engagement, a non- spring as the coronavirus pan- partisan organization focused on demic shut down college campus- youth engagement at Tufts Uni- es, Janae Steggall and other cam- versity. “We’re seeing an uptick in pus organizers scrambled to help all the numbers of voting engage- students make sure they could ment, as well as protest and still vote in the primaries. marches.” But despite blasting out social But while many Americans are media graphics, hotline numbers turning to mail ballots this year and digital care packages to help because of the pandemic, that students figure out where they voting option can be uniquely were eligible to vote, some stu- challenging for college students — dents never got their ballots after some of whom have never used they returned home — including the Postal Service or had to buy Steggall, who leads a civic engage- stamps. ment group on campus. “It was so disheartening to be Requirements in flux extremely passionate about this Compounding the problem: work and to recognize and tell Voting requirements are still in other people that voting is impor- flux in many states, with new tant and necessary to the health Tamir Kalifa/For the Washington Post court rulings daily on ballot dead- of our democracy, then to not be Texas State University students register to vote. Campuses hit by the pandemic have seen a lack lines and witness requirements, able to participate in it,” the 21- of organized voter drives; new rules and changing guidelines are jeopardizing their votes.