Democrats’ victory hinges on Black voters

Gavin Godfrey and DeAsia Paige, Tribune News Service

Kimberly Alexander is still trying to make sense of the news and her emotions. Alexander, 54, is a Black registered Democrat in Hampton, Georgia, and was all but set to cast a vote for Biden in November despite calls for him to get out of the race. She’s not happy about him leaving, but understands.

“I have mixed feelings,” said Alexander, a behavioural health clinician. “Ultimately you have to do what’s best, not only for the country overall, but for yourself.” In making his announcement in a letter Sunday, Biden followed his decision with an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. But it won’t be that easy.

“I guess what’s most disappointing to me about her announcement is I know we’re going to have to push through people on both parties who are going to question her ability to get elected,” Alexander said. In a poll from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs conducted before Biden’s announcement, Harris polled higher than her boss among Democrats and Black voters, who represent the party’s base. Black voters who spoke with the AJC after Biden’s announcement said they are trying to follow this campaign season’s moving parts. Before casting their votes, they’re closely following the issues and seemed split on supporting Harris’ run.

‘Who now?’ If Harris secures the nomination, she will be the first Black and first Asian American woman to be the Democratic Party’s choice for president. Though historic, it’s not a selling point for friends Sakinah Muhammad, 21, and Tyra Williams, 25, who spent Sunday walking the Atlanta Beltline in Old Fourth Ward. The East Atlanta residents and young Black voters say they’re concerned about income inequality, housing costs and resources for low-income college students. Williams, a Democrat, planned on voting for Biden. Now, she’s confused. “It was just like who now?” Williams said. If the past is any indication, Williams is anxious about a Harris candidacy because she’s not convinced America is ready for a woman to lead.

“I was a little nervous back in 2016 when Hillary Clinton ran for president and her being a woman was something that people didn’t like,” she said, not sure attitudes have shifted much in eight years. “Kamala, I support her being a Black woman, but it’s nerve-wracking.”

Muhammad, a computer science major at Fort Valley State University, is in her last year of college. She’s an independent voter who worries that other Black women may vote on optics, not issues. “If Black women just vote for Kamala Harris based on the fact that she’s a Black woman — I don’t think that’s smart,” she said. “It’s not really looking out for the best interest of what we need to do as a country and for the Black community, Black women as a whole.” A Sunday evening Zoom meeting led by political advocacy group Win With Black Women garnered 44,000 people and raised $1.5 million in support of Harris in a few hours, the organisation said.

Still, it’s too soon for Muhammad to make her pick. Both Williams and Muhammad hope that whoever leads the country will address the war between Hamas and Israel. Overall, they’re “feeling numb” about the entire process. “I feel like it’s a lot of feelings, like insecurity among a lot of people. You don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Muhammad said.

For some Black voters, the next step is watching how parties address the issues that matter to them. “I think this has been a wake-up call at least for the last almost 10 years for the Democratic Party that they can’t rely on people feeling motivated to vote every four years,” RK Jackson, 32, said. For Jackson, who lives in Atlanta and is the editorial lead for the new Black-owned social media app Spill, it’s important that young people and the issues they care about are represented in the upcoming election.

He cited the expansion of abortion rights and cancelling student loans as top priorities. “I think what we’ve learned since at least 2020 is that a lot of folks near and dear to us specifically — them losing their freedom could quite possibly be our freedoms next. That’s a big driving force behind young people being galvanised, especially about (the Israel-Hamas war).” The wait and see approach is something Fred Cason, 72, agrees with. The Fairburn native and retired surgical oncologist remembers watching Harris spar with then-Vice President Mike Pence during the vice presidential debate in October 2020.

Cason wasn’t impressed at first, but says Biden’s running mate has since grown on him. “There was something about her presentation I didn’t like, but over the last 3 1/2 years I’ve gotten to like her,” he admitted.

Cason is an independent voter who will be voting in Georgia for the first time after moving from California over a year ago. He was convinced Biden could beat Donald Trump. Now, he says he wouldn’t have minded seeing his old governor, Gavin Newsom, get in the race. (Newsom is backing Harris.)

He does, however, feel like Harris, given the limited time frame and having been in the White House the past four years, is the best shot Democrats have to win. “I think Kamala Harris is the only one that’s really likely to be ready in terms of having knowledge of all aspects of the government,” he said.

Hours after Biden’s announcement, Renee Sudderth was downtown for Janet Jackson’s concert at State Farm Arena. Harris has a good chance of winning, she said. “Biden has been an excellent political individual for over 50 years,” said Sudderth, 64. “(Kamala) has worked hand-in-hand with him for the last four years, and she has tackled a lot of topics a lot of people didn’t know about. She talked with a lot of our civil rights leaders and ensured that our voting rights remained in place.”

“With what she’s learned from Biden and the other people around her, she’s going to be all right.” DeMarcus Davenport, who sold merchandise outside the concert, said he was a bit upset about Biden’s decision to end his bid for reelection. The 31-year-old isn’t sure who he’ll vote for, but said it would be a good race between Harris and Trump. “After (Trump’s assassination attempt), I kind of thought that would put votes more toward Trump,” he said. “(Biden’s withdrawal) was kind of an upset, but I feel it was necessary.”

Cason said he thinks Biden did a good job as president, and admires his long career. In his opinion, with the exception of the last two weeks, the race has been boring. “Now, it’s going to get competitive again; at least the excuse won’t be the person’s too old,” he said, adding that he’s still undecided on who to vote for but is voting nonetheless.