Fewer Black men own homes than their White peers, and many are not present in their children’s homes or lives. Although the causes and reasons vary, many of us survive — but are unable to thrive — on minuscule wages.
Calls to lower the cost of groceries and address price-gouging speak more to the Black women shopping for larger households. Support for historically Black colleges and universities misses the mark because women attend them in higher numbers than men. Even promises to make it easier to buy homes or start a business leave those dreams out of reach for Black men with poor credit, scant education and criminal records.
The fact is, Black men do not feel that voting for Donald Trump will improve their situation. We know he employs racist dog whistles and remarks. But Ms. Harris seems to have forgotten that we have long come to expect the same thoughts from most White men.
On the other hand, we expect more from Black women. And until this point in her campaign, Ms. Harris had failed to verbalize a policy tailored to benefit Black men.
The second and most important reason is President Joe Biden’s failure to answer the outcries of Black men who work and struggle only to be told there is no assistance for them. However, our communities found funding to provide housing, food and health care for migrants. The people responding to these images are not Trump voters; they are votes the Biden administration squandered. It has long been a saying among Black men and nonvoting Black communities that Democrats show up only when they want your vote.
Stanley Campbell, Albuquerque
I came across former president Barack Obama’s recent statements admonishing Black men for not blindly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in her quest for the presidency. I have to say: As a Black man, I was very insulted by his remarks, which were more condescending than anything former president Donald Trump has said about “Black jobs.”
Mr. Obama’s allegation omitted one obvious fact: Black men have already voted for a woman for president. In 2016, 81 percent of Black men voted for Hillary Clinton. She didn’t lose because of us; she lost because 47 percent of White women voted for Mr. Trump, slightly higher than the 45 percent of them who voted for Ms. Clinton. In 2020, an even higher percentage of White women, 53 percent, voted for Mr. Trump. I highly doubt that Mr. Obama would ever speak to White women in the same belittling tone that he spoke to Black men.
Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, Black men have helped elect Black women across all levels of government, including in Philadelphia, where we have, for the first time, a Black female mayor. We have 49 years’ worth of proof that Black men have no problem voting for Black women.
Instead, a September NAACP poll found that more than one-quarter of Black men younger than 50 support Mr. Trump because of how they believe he would handle issues such as the economy, crime and public safety. Are these not valid issues?
Mr. Obama’s recent comments remind me of his 2016 remark that he would consider it a “personal insult” to his legacy if Black voters didn’t turn out for Ms. Clinton. Black people do not owe Mr. Obama — or Ms. Harris — anything. If Mr. Obama must try to shame Black men into voting for Ms. Harris, then she is in even worse shape than I thought.
It is not the job of Black men to blindly vote for Ms. Harris; it is her job to earn our vote. Only now, weeks before the election, has she started to lift a finger. Black people have survived a hell of a lot worse than Donald Trump. If he wins, so be it. We will be just fine. The days of Black men — and hopefully, Black people writ large — blindly supporting the Democratic Party are over. Mr. Obama owes Black men an apology.
Greg Johnson, Philadelphia
Former president Barack Obama’s speculation that the reluctance of Black men to be enthusiastic about Kamala Harris’s candidacy is based on sexism misses the mark.
Black men have good reason to be skeptical of a Democratic presidential candidate who, as a prosecutor, participated in the acceleration of mass incarceration of Black people resulting from Democratic President Bill Clinton’s law-and-order legislation. They watched while Mr. Clinton also engaged in punitive “welfare reform” that bolstered the false stereotype of welfare recipients as Black people looking for a handout. Mr. Obama offered a message of hope, then bailed out Wall Street even as his inadequate response to the financial meltdown — another result of Clinton-era deregulation — caused untold millions in home equity in the Black community to evaporate. No major finance executive was held responsible for this devastation.
The skepticism Black men are expressing this election season is the result of a rational assessment that the Democratic Party takes their votes for granted and doesn’t follow through to prioritize their needs. Democrats must convince Black men that they are no longer the party of Mr. Clinton’s pro-corporate “triangulation.” Calling them sexist is counterproductive.
Gary Stewart, Laguna Beach, Calif.
The margin of victory for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in battleground states will be razor-thin. To maximize her chances, Ms. Harris is engaged in a full-court press to capture Black and Latino male voters. Although she is doing better than Mr. Trump, she is running behind Joe Biden’s 2020 performance with these groups. The street explanation offered by these voters is that Mr. Biden did not do enough for them and Ms. Harris is just an extension of Mr. Biden.
A more painful explanation, masked by an excuse about policy that is not supported by the facts, is that these men are uncomfortable with bright, strong women. This has nothing to do with policies. This view of women is related not to contemporary politics but to these voters’ early life experiences.
Evading this issue will not win Ms. Harris any significant support from this group. Mr. Obama’s urging will likely also have little effect. She must present that she appreciates their vulnerability and can work with them without making them feeling intimidated. So far, she has not.
Sidney Weissman, Highland Park, Ill.
Although much of the coverage of Barack Obama’s recent Pittsburgh appearance supporting Kamala Harris suggested the former president specifically addressed Black men, I think it’s important to focus on his speech as a message to all men, rather than exclusively to Black men.
At no point in Mr. Obama’s speech did he ever use the phrase, “Black men” when he addressed the audience, including when he spoke of the signs of real strength in men. Take this portion of his speech: “And by the way, I’m sorry, gentlemen, I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior of bullying and putting people down is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is. It never has been.
“Real strength is about working hard and carrying a heavy load without complaining. Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient. Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves.”
These remarks apply equally to all men.
Mr. Obama never suggested or requested that men who supported Mr. Trump should blindly move their support to Ms. Harris. Instead, he argued that if some men support Mr. Trump out of the belief that Mr. Trump was an example of strength, those voters ought to reevaluate what real strength and manhood look like and to rethink whether Mr. Trump actually represents those ideals. Mr. Obama said: “Pennsylvania, that is the choice in this election.”
Larry Parker, Apex, N.C.
Regarding the Oct. 16 front-page article “In a Mich. city, Black men tepid on Harris”:
Maybe my math is faulty, but the last time I looked, only two people with a chance of winning are running for president.
One has long experience in public service, conducts herself with courtesy and common decency, has served in law enforcement, and understands and sympathizes with the plight of minorities and is Black.
The other is a convicted criminal with a long history of juvenile behavior and overt racism.
What do Harris-skeptical voters want, given the options?
It’s like an old joke: A Roman gladiator stands in the arena before two doors. The emperor declares: “Behind one door is a beautiful maiden; behind the other is a man-eating lion. Which door do you choose?” The gladiator responds, “The one with the beautiful maiden.”
There is no real choice between the candidates in this election.
Lyndon Dodds, San Antonio