Apparently, it is both misogynistic and racist to demand that Harris supply a vision of government that speaks to Black economic interests.
Apparently, Black men are not allowed to vote with our economic interests. Black men must back Harris, Harris must #WinWithBlackMen, and we must „protect the sister“, as Van Jones put it on CNN. That’s been the message since the party announced that Vice President Kamala Harris would be replacing President Joe Biden in the November presidential election against former President Trump.
It seems that Harris is entitled to the Black male vote simply because she is a Black woman. I do not recall an election where working-class Black men resoundingly decided that Harris should be the party’s nominee for U.S. president. But apparently, that’s irrelevant. Apparently, we’re not allowed to question the best candidate or best economic policy for us. Instead, we are expected to surrender our vote to party leadership and pull the lever based on the candidate’s race and gender.
Are the livelihoods of Black men so disposable that we are to be denied the opportunity of pursuing our own economic interests? What if Trump’s immigration policies and rhetoric do help Black men in the labor market? Without instigating a civil war within the Black community, I do not appreciate watching Democratic party elites ensure Vice President Harris is free to ignore political solutions to the economic degradation of Black people.
When it comes to policy, she’s only been clear about one issue: abortion. Yet abortion should not be the only issue Black men vote on. To my mind, abortion should not be the only issue any demographic votes on, because the issue can never be resolved in a nation that embraces religious pluralism. Leaving it up to the states is in the spectrum of acceptable compromises, even if it is not my ideal. if we are going to talk about anything else, ever, as a matter of national politics.
But there is a prominent policy issue that impacts Black men and our earning potential—and unfortunately, Harris is bizarrely on every side of it.
