‘We’re addressing them as if their main issue is racial issues,’ one Democrat cautioned of the Democratic Party’s appeal to Black voters.
Democratic strategists and others cautioned on Tuesday that Black voters in South Carolina were reconsidering their Democratic Party loyalties, as President Biden’s poll numbers remained low.
Politico reported on meetings with many South Carolina Democrats as well as Democratic strategists about the Black vote. According to the site, the Democrats were frightened that Black people were abandoning the Democratic Party entirely.
According to Marcurius Byrd, a Democratic strategist who formed the Young Democrats of the Central Midlands and worked on Marianne Williamson’s campaign, some Black business owners were irritated by the focus on racial issues.
“We’re treating them like their only issue is racial issues, and not all of us, but to some extent some of us have moved past that,” he went on to say. He also stated that African-Americans were becoming “more educated.”
“As Black people are becoming more and more educated, the monolith that we once were is dispersing, so we’re needing more and more different things,” he remarked.
Dylan Gunnels, the chapter president of the Young Democrats, told the outlet that some Black voters believe the Democratic Party has “failed them.”
“I think we’re seeing that in the numbers from these polls,” he said.
A group of Black voters expressed similar sentiments to Astead Herndon of the New York Times. “I honestly feel that the Democratic Party has forgotten about the Black male,” one Black voter observed.
According to Jeremy Jones, a Democratic Party leader from Lexington County, South Carolina, the appeal of Former President Donald Trump is only part of the problem. He claimed that some Black folks who saw Trump’s name on stimulus cheques thought he was doing something “for the Black community.”
McKenzie Watson, a political strategist who advocates for persons with disabilities, said people were struggling and that the party should focus on repairing their own country rather than other countries.
“We have people here who are suffering, who are struggling to keep a roof over their head,” she added. “We have people who are struggling to put food on the table for their children and to buy a home.” There is a lot of struggle going on in the country… Ukraine has my support, and my heart goes out to the Ukrainian people. But it’s like you need to fix your house. Your folks are also suffering here.”
Politico also mentioned a letter discussed by Politico writer David Siders with Democratic Women of Greenville County president Laura Height. Six Black Pastors wrote the letter, which supported a Republican over a Democratic incumbent.
