If Vice President Kamala Harris is worried about Black male voter turnout, her latest rally in Georgia showed that demographic is feeling enthusiastic about her White House run.
Despite polls showing softer support for Harris among Black men than for President Joe Biden four years ago, Black male voters at Harris’ rally in Clarkston Thursday night told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they are eager to vote and throw their support behind Harris.
“To be honest, I feel like Black men in this election, we just want to be heard,” said Damion Hart, a 24-year-old entrepreneur who owns a beauty salon and barbershop in Newnan. “We want make sure people aren’t forgetting about us and it’s on us, too. We’ve got to stay engaged.”
Concerns about whether Black men would support Harris in the numbers she needs to win the election became national news earlier this month when former President Barack Obama wondered aloud at an event in Pennsylvania whether Black men were reluctant to vote for a woman for president.
Obama introduced Harris at Thursday’s rally in DeKalb County, steering clear of the earlier controversy. Instead, he drew stark contrasts between Harris and former President Donald Trump, who he characterized as unstable and unfit for the job.
It was Hart’s first time hearing Obama in person and he found the former president “motivating” in terms of encouraging other Black men to engage.
Hart cast his ballot on the first day of early voting in Georgia. He said his top-of-the-ticket issues are women’s reproductive rights, education and police reform.
Army Spc. Michael Turner, 28, was too young to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. A Clarkston native, Turner walked around James Hallford Stadium Thursday in full uniform trying to find a stick to prop up his Harris-Walz campaign sign.
Turner feels like the energy around the Black male voters he talks to is “average” but higher for Kamala Harris than Donald Trump.
Credit: Ron Williams
Credit: Ron Williams
“Out of the two of them, only one of them comes from a Black man,” he said about why Harris is better for voters that look like him. “If you want to support Black male genes and the Black male then you know who you should vote for.”
Turner is concerned about crime, support for the military, unemployment and aftereffects of COVID-19. And being a resident of Clarkston, dubbed “the most diverse square mile in America,” Turner said he’s also concerned for its local immigrant community.
He tells his friends that the only vote wasted is the one not cast.
“I don’t care if it’s Cornel West, just get out to vote. I don’t care if it’s Kanye West,” he quipped, adding that being engaged in the process is what matters most for all Black male voters. “I don’t care who wins, America wins if you vote.”
Isaiah Turman, 18, is voting in his first election. The Newark, Delaware, native is studying business administration at Morehouse College. Turman said he was encouraged to go to the Harris rally by an older classmate.
Turman plans on voting next week and said is his top issue is education. He’s worried that another Trump presidency would lead to more legislation targeting topics focused on Black history and culture in higher education.
“It sounds like Trump and his party are trying to take away a large portion of our history and erase that,” he said.
Ahead of the election, Turman said other Black male voters in his age group are excited about voting, despite Obama’s comments. If Obama feels like Black men aren’t showing enough energy, that’s not the case for students at the historically Black Atlanta University Center.
“Especially within my demographic, everyone’s main mental space around it is ‘go vote,’” he said. “Sharing with my peers, they’re just as enthusiastic about as I am.”
Democratic political strategist Fred Hicks, 47, has spent the past two years working to engage Black male voters. Through the work of his organization Black Men Decide, he’s hoping to keep them in the Democratic Party.
He said Black voters tell him they’re focused on family, the economy and want to hear more from Democrats and Republicans addressing that.
“Both parties are missing that core underlying matter that what Black men really want more than anything is ability to be empowered to take care of our families,” he told the AJC while waiting for Harris to speak.
In years past, Black voters made up their minds earlier in the campaign process, Hicks said, typically in lockstep with the Democrats. This time around it’s different.
“This year, Black men are making both parties work a little harder. He hopes that race will break heavily in Harris’ favor in the next two weeks. During his address to the crowd, Sen. Raphael Warnock spoke to Black men directly. “I do not believe numbers of Black men are going to vote for the likes of Donald Trump,” he said.
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