General Discussion

Understanding and addressing the unique experience of the Black community and our voting patterns since Obama is something that the party has to address. Like any other voting block, you have to earn our vote and have real policies that are tailored and directed towards the Black community. James is facing a much broader fight that isn’t only his but our party has to address. Black people are the most consistent and reliable voting block in the party but there are a lot of us that feel like our votes get taken for granted. The election church tour and the once in awhile town hall won’t cut it anymore. The younger Black voters want real policies and to be courted in a real and authentic way like the party seems to do rural voters. Black voters consistently vote to reduce harm but at some point if you don’t try to earn our votes, people may not vote for the other candidate but they will stay home. Every time I go to the barbershop I find myself debating a 20 something or a person my own age about the importance of voting D straight down the ticket and they rightly or wrongly ask the same question and that is what policies are specifically geared towards Black people?

Trump in his nonsense recognized this more so than most politicians that I’ve seen. His racist comments about “black jobs” or his “Platinum Plan” were strategic and though surface level and based on lies was his attempt to court Black voters.

Race and the Black experience is unfortunately a blind spot that we have to address. Making statements to Black people that things will be so much worse if they don’t vote is ringing hollow to the younger generation and given this country’s history of poor treatment of Black people, we are very resilient. James needs to speak to Black people and mention actual policies that will positively impact them like pushing for job placement for displaced federal workers and removing barriers from Black farmers form getting access to the billions of dollars allocated to farmers in the farm bill.