Black voters in key big cities like Detroit are warning Democrats that being against President Donald Trump will not be enough to motivate black Democrats to go to the polls in 2020.
According to a Tuesday Los Angeles Times report, black voters in Detroit, “which is 80% African American, say they’re fed up with helping Democrats win, only to be undermined, sidelined or forgotten later. They want assurances that the 2020 presidential candidates will deliver on promises that help get them elected.”
One African American voter told the outlet that “Trump is not enough” to mobilize black voters while other voters said they were “disappointed over the Democrats’ failure to fix key problems in the black community, such as high jobless rates, rampant home foreclosures, poor schools and business decline.”
The Times interviewed John Ware, “an African American who’s been living in the same working-class section of southwest Detroit since the 1960s” and who did not vote in 2016, who simply said: “They’re all liars.”
Another voter did not vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 because of the crime bill that her husband, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, backed. The Times also interviewed LaTarro Traylor, who did not vote in 2016 and wonders why Democrats expect black voters to save the world only to leave them behind when it comes various policies.
The co-founders of the Black Church PAC also recently warned Democrats that it is “risky” and “reckless” to assume that African Americans “will come out in droves simply to vote against” President Donald Trump in 2020 just because of Trump’s racism.
Even after the Black Church PAC recently hosted some of the top Democrats running for president for a presidential forum, the group’s leaders conceded that “most candidates have simply not broken through to young African American voter.”
“This is alarming because, if this vital demographic is not actively engaged in selecting the eventual nominee, Democrats may end up with a nominee who fails to engage a significant voting bloc in the general election,” argued Leah Daughtry and Michael McBride, the group’s co-founders. “It’s no secret that the Democratic Party cannot win national elections without the black vote. Less well understood by major Democratic candidates and donors is that black voters are not a monolith. Particularly in the black church, we fall along a wide spectrum of conservative and liberal social values. Our intersections related to race and gender are complex and nuanced.”
Though some Democrats have argued that Democrats should focus more on “gettable” Trump voters in key swing states because Trump will be the best turnout driver for African American voters, the Black Church PAC co-founders believe that Democrats must actually double down on “turning out reliably blue African American voters in places like Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia” instead of “centering their campaigns around convincing white ‘Reagan Democrats’ to stay blue.”
“No one expects large numbers of blacks to vote for President Trump; however, operating as if African American and other voters will come out in droves simply to vote against Trump — without giving them someone who is compelling to vote for — is a risky and reckless approach,” they noted. “Even within the more conservative bloc of the black church, Trump’s message is repulsive to millennials and their black elders. Unlike white evangelicals, whose support for Trump still hovers above 80%, socially conservative-leaning black church members detected very clearly the racialized rhetoric and dangerous policies of Trump and overwhelmingly do not support him. With meaningful engagement, these voters can be activated to vote for a candidate who promotes a compelling vision of belonging, justice and opportunity for all.”
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