Vice President Kamala Harris is targeting black men with new economic proposals after Democrats sounded the alarm over the critical voting bloc’s slipping support.
The Harris campaign came under fire recently for allegedly neglecting black male voters, an increasing number of whom were either defecting to former President Donald Trump or refraining from voting. Black male voters have widely felt neglected after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. They have complained that their concerns were met with condescension from the Harris campaign. With just weeks to go until Election Day, Harris is rolling out new economic policies targeting black men to win back their support.
Harris unveiled her “opportunity agenda for black men” ahead of a campaign stop in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Monday. The agenda includes plans to provide a million fully forgivable business loans for black entrepreneurs worth up to $20,000, increased training programs for black men to enter high-end industries, support for a program that helps black teachers, and increased studies of sickle cell disease and other ailments that disproportionately affect black men.
“This agenda is a further realization of Vice President Harris’ Opportunity Economy,” said former Democratic Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Harris campaign co-chairman, in a statement.
“An economy where people don’t just get by, but get ahead. Where Black men are equipped with the tools to thrive: to buy a home, provide for our families, start a business, and build wealth,” he added.
Harris also pushed heavily for federal marijuana legalization, a move that went beyond the Biden administration’s stance.
Harris “will break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back by legalizing marijuana nationally, working with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land,” according to a Harris campaign statement, CNBC News reported.
“She will also fight to ensure that as the national cannabis industry takes shape, Black men — who have, for years, been over policed for marijuana use — are able to access wealth and jobs in this new market,” the statement continued.
Former President Barack Obama addressed the dampening of black male enthusiasm last week, scolding them at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. He told a group of black men that considering a vote for former President Donald Trump was “not acceptable” and that part of their hesitancy was because they “just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.”
“You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody [in former President Donald Trump] who has a history of denigrating you because you think that’s a sign of strength because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down?” Obama said.
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More than three dozen black Detroit residents, including mostly male strategists, activists, clergy, elected officials, and likely voters, also pointed out the decrease in black male enthusiasm to Politico last week.
Though still low, Trump’s support among black males has doubled since 2016. An Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 18% of black men viewed Trump favorably, an increase credited to several factors, including Trump’s masculine appeal and anger over immigration.