Is Biden’s anti-Trump message enough to win over Black voters?

words by Charles Brooks   

The significance of the Black vote is on full display as both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris make their final case and last push for Black voters, particularly in the battleground states.  The path for Biden to reach the White House runs through these very same battleground states in Black America. The Biden-Harris team needs to reach those areas with large Black voters like Detroit in the battleground state of Michigan, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, Milwaukee in Wisconsin and Cleveland in Ohio.  But the Democratic Party nominee is faced with the daunting task of having to reach the Black vote in numbers unseen since 2008 and 2012 when Barack Obama was elected. 

Right now – if you trust the polling numbers - five national polls have Biden ahead by at least 10 points over President Trump even though there’s been just a bit of slippage in these polls in the last month.    The polling in battleground states show a slightly different picture where Biden holds a steady but single-digit lead over Trump.    

While Black America clearly supports the Biden-Harris ticket, there’s still this stubborn lack of enthusiasm that has dogged Candidate Biden since the primaries. Again - if you trust and believe the polling, they point out these same challenges Biden has with Black voters under the age of 30.  The American University Black Swing Voter Project found Black support for Biden for this age group at 47%.  In another poll by CBS/BET found similar numbers in this age group with 42%.  But Biden’s issues for the Black vote doesn’t stop with the lack of voter enthusiasm. There’s still the age-old sentiment about the Black vote being taken for granted that Harris’ addition to the ticket apparently hasn’t resolved. We are seeing this issue particularly in those areas that are absolutely crucial to a Biden upset in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee.  .  

The Biden-Harris campaign’s pursuit of the Black vote includes establishing outreach programs for Black voters like Shop Talk discussing the issues facing Black men, Make it Happen Mondays, where Black businesses and business owners discuss their needs; and there’s their Sister to Sister program dedicated to Black women.  In fact, the 2020 elections will mark the largest ad buy and paid outreach by the Democrats for Black media.  Kamau Marshall, the Director of Strategic Communications for the Biden campaign told Black Enterprise that it’s imperative to show Black Americans the damage Trump has caused to them during his first term. “No I think part of our job is to remind the Black community of this president’s incompetence resulting in a large number of deaths in the Black community related to the coronavirus and the economic effects of the virus for Black Americans. The man has also talked bad about Nelson Mandela and John Lewis and former President Obama, so what we have to do is show people who he is.”

But does the anti-Trump message provide enough motivation to generate the much-needed vote totals to serve Trump his eviction papers via ballot box? Why not highlight features of the Biden plan for Black America like the billions he wants to spend on affordable housing and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)? Or his plan to forgive student loans and have free college tuition? What about the $1.3 trillion he wants to spend on infrastructure and jobs? Or his proposals to finally end the crack versus powder disparity, ending cash bail, or ending the use of private prisons? Despite a plan that covers areas such as healthcare, criminal justice, wealth/income inequality, education, housing/homeownership, voting rights and climate – their campaign message seems to be framed more around an anti-Trump message that includes a much-needed return of normalcy and civility to the White House. But is that enough?

Now in the throes of the last hours of the 2020 election, the Biden-Harris team is making a strong final push for Black voters with drive-in rallies in Flint and Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, with former president Barack Obama joining Biden at a drive-in rally in Miami, Florida.  The Biden-Harris team also made several visits to Florida, with Harris making three visits herself to South Florida including, Miami Gardens  - the city with the largest Black population in Florida, as Biden made visits Fort Lauderdale and Tampa to rally Black voters. 

Well, come election night, we’ll see if their anti-Trump campaign message prove to be just enough to thrust Biden-Harris to the White House or will the aftershocks of defeat bring more contentious debate around the missed opportunities in 2020...and the lessons wasted from 2016. 

Further Reading:

Live Election Results, from the Guardian

Preliminary Exit Polling, from the New York Times

Preliminary Election Results, from CNN

The Black electorate could decide the 2020 election, from The Guardian

Related Posts

Will Trump’s racism crush his strategic appeals for Black voters?

Biden picks Kamala Harris - can she be the difference the Democrats need to win in November?

Who will Biden pick?

Will Biden take Black voters for granted?

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Will Trump’s racism crush his strategic appeals for Black voters?

words by Charles Brooks

 

Photo credit: Black Voices For Trump Facebook page

For the last four years, Trump has not only railed against the Democratic Party but Black America  as well.  He has attacked and offended many with insults and dangerous racist rhetoric.  His racial politics advances a racist narrative along with a public policy that’s equally damning and harmful. That’s why his 2020 re-election campaign’s paradoxical outreach to Black voters is so odd and rather peculiar but seemingly strategic.  

Candidate Trump promised a New Deal for Black America — With a Plan for Urban Renewal.   A “ten-point plan” addressing education via school choice, safe communities where safety is a “civil right”, and equal justice with promises to “apply the law fairly, equally and without prejudice.”  His 2016 New Deal also promised tax and financial reforms to create jobs, along with a $1 trillion infrastructure investment.

About a year ago, Trump launched “Black Voices for Trump" where Black folk highlight his “accomplishments” with Black America.  They hold campaign events across the country, pointing to Trump “wins” in funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), criminal justice reform via the First Step Act, low Black unemployment along with his anti-poverty program - Opportunity Zones. 

But Trump’s pursuit for Black voters doesn’t end there – there’s his newly released plan for Black America called, The Platinum Plan.  Here, he makes campaign promises of tax cuts, increases in education opportunities, lower healthcare costs, and criminal justice reform.  There’s also promises to deliver 3 million new jobs, create 500,000 new black owned businesses, and increase access to capital in Black communities by almost $500 billion.  He even wants to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan and ANTIFA as terrorist organizations, make lynching a national hate crime, and make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Although introduced as a plan for Black America, The Platinum Plan reads more like an executive summary than an actual plan. Reading through the “plan” you get the sense this was hastily crafted and hurriedly put together with vague language compelling far more questions than answers.  For example, the “plan” contains exactly 39 bullet points spread over two pages but only seven with any mention of cost allocations. Many of the remaining bullet points appear to be more goal oriented and aspirational.  

For example, the plan in part reads “Reach even greater levels of historic employment and wage growth for the Black Community set in 2019, so that anyone looking for a job gets one” or “examine barriers to employment” or “Increase activity in opportunity zones including benefits for local hires” or “Examine alternative ways to build credit including rent, utilities, and phone bills” or “Champion federal policy reforms to advance home ownership initiatives” or when it comes to the HBCUs, the plan states: “Continue to protect the vital role of Historically Black Colleges & Universities".  There’s more but I think you get the point. 

We have heard Trump’s repeated proclamations of being the best president for Blacks but given his propensity to mislead the facts or just plain lie – closer scrutiny actually shows a far different picture than the one he’s painting.  For one, his anti-poverty initiative, opportunity zones have come under increasing criticism where Black businesses and communities are not benefiting as claimed.  His “accomplishments” for HBCUs has invited scorn considering Trump’s absentee role as legislation worked through Congress.  The same absentee role he’s taking with the lynching bill that now just sits in the Senate’s dusty bin. While Black unemployment did fall to historically-low levels during the Trump presidency, the role of Trump’s economic policies is debatable considering the downward trend that began during the Obama administration.     

On criminal justice, Trump signed the First Step Act into law, yet funding, implementation and execution of the law remains problematic.  For Attorney General, Trump nominated Jeff Sessions described as a career racist and then Bill Barr, widely considered an “architect” of today’s mass incarceration policies.  They implemented new criminal justice policies as several initiatives established during the Obama presidency were now rolled back – gone.      

The truth is, Black folk supported Trump in 2016 and again in 2020. Since receiving 8% of the Black vote in 2016, Trump got a 10% approval rating amongst Blacks in 2017, 11% in 2018 and 10% in November 2019.  Trump even posted a high of 23% just months ago in February 2020.  In fact, there are now reports indicating an uptick in Black support for Trump.  And yet, despite Trump’s covert racism, his approval rating with Blacks stands at 14% .  This figure could prove significant enough to Trump’s reelection chances if the 14% holds and somehow translates into an increase of Black support at the polls beyond 8%.

Meanwhile, Trump asked Black voters back in 2016, what the hell do you have to lose?  Four years later, Black voters count the losses from Trump's pursuit of deregulation, freezing the consent decrees, along with the massive budget cuts to social programs, And, then there’s the loss of millions of jobs, businesses and healthcare due to his feeble response to the pandemic health crisis.  Black voters will enter the voting booth with Trump's question in mind and respond with their vote. 

For additional reading, see the indictments below:

United States v. Donald Trump (January 6th, 4 indictments)

United States v. Donald Trump (classified documents, 40 indictments)

Georgia v Donald Trump (2020 election, 34 indictments)

New York State v Donald Trump (falsifying business records, 34 indictments)

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The Ballot Or The Bullet-The Impact of Malcolm X on SNCC/The Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee

THE MALCOLM X COMMEMORATION COMMITTEE

P.O. BOX 380-122, BROOKLYN, NY11238

www.MXCC519.org

Facebook: Malcolm X Commemoration Committee

973-202-0745; 917-346-8142

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Malcolm X Commemoration Committee Presents, "The Ballot Or The Bullet-The Impact of Malcolm X on SNCC/The Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee"

On Saturday, October 31st, 2020, the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee (MXCC) will host another powerful virtual roundtable, ‘The Ballot Or The Bullet-The Impact of Malcolm X on SNCC/The Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee"

This roundtable will take place at 5pm on Facebook Live!

Special guests for this engaging dialogue will be former SNCC members Prof. Sam Anderson, author of The Black Holocaust For Beginners, Mae Jackson, who was also a founder of Third World Women’s Alliance and Art Without Walls, and their advance man for ‘Black Power,’ former SNCC field secretary Mukasa Ricks.                      

This month’s political spotlight will be Imam Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown.  Imam Jamil was also the former national chair of SNCC!  Imam Jamil was framed for the 2000 shooting attack on two Fulton County Deputy Sheriffs, in which one was killed. He was sentenced to Life in Prison in 2002.He has always maintained his innocence. Another person, Otis Jackson, confessed to the deed years ago. The courts have yet to entertain his confession.

Jackson surfaced again just recently. This time, he not only restated his confession, but did so under oath in an unrelated legal proceeding. Supporters of Imam Jamil are fighting tirelessly to get the courts to admit the confession on the Court Record and to secure the Imam’s release.

Imam Jamil is now 77 years old. He has suffered from Multiple Myeloma and a minor stroke since his conviction. Supporters say his continued incarceration, especially in light of the new evidence, is cruel and unusual punishment, and he should be released in the interest of justice.

To contribute to the Imam’s commissary, please forward your contribution to https://www.paypal.me/PPOWs.

The Malcolm X Commemoration Committee has been doing these monthly webinars with these political prisoner spotlights to take the place of their annual Dinner Tribute to the Families because of the Covid19 Pandemic.

The Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee was founded in the Spring of 1960 under the tutelage of Civil Rights champion teacher and organizer Ella Baker at Shaw University in North Carolina. They have often been referred to as ‘the shock troops’ of the Civil Rights Movement because of their robust and energetic Civil Disobedience Campaigns. SNCC, however, was much more. They were genuine organizers who went into the most dangerous areas of a very violent segregated Southern landscape and transformed the lives of the people they organized, training people to not just participate in those Civil Disobedience Campaigns, but to become the leaders of those campaigns.

As the epic decade that was the 1960s advanced, the continued racial terrorism of the south, such as the bombing of 16th Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963 where four Black little girls were killed, for instance, moved many within SNCC away from a total commitment to NonViolence. Inspired by Malcolm, many began to move instead to consider armed self-defense and to think more in terms of the global revolutionary trends.

For more information about the work of the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee, 

Please call 973 202 0745. 

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