Obama tells Black men it’s ‘not acceptable’ to sit out election | CNN Politics
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Former President Barack Obama on Thursday admonished Black men who he believes have not adequately supported Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, telling them it’s “not acceptable” to sit out this election and suggesting they might be reluctant to vote for Harris because she’s a woman.

He then ends up suggesting the reason they don’t like Harris is because she’s a woman -

“Because part of it makes me think – and I’m speaking to men directly – part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”

  • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
    01·
    23 days ago

    Obama is full of shit on this, and a person worth ~$150 million assuming black men’s political motivations are so superficial is pretty upsetting to read regardless of his race. The issue isn’t gender, at least not primarily, but rather the Democrats’ growing disconnect with working-class voters of color. Harris (a woman) is actually performing better than Biden (a man) did with Black voters, but that doesn’t change the broader trend: the Democratic Party is steadily losing support among people of color, particularly those without college degrees. Instead of addressing economic and social concerns that matter to these communities, Democrats seem to be pushing them away, allowing Republicans to gain ground. Obama implying black men are sexist if they don’t vote for Harris instead of recognizing this complexity feeds the trend of alienating core democratic constituencies.

    This trend is most evident in the party’s shift toward becoming the choice of wealthy, college-educated white voters. As polarization based on education deepens, Democrats are doing better with white voters who have college degrees, but they’re struggling to maintain their traditional base. Black, Hispanic, and working-class voters without degrees are feeling left behind.

    What we’re seeing is a realignment where the Democrats are slowly becoming the party of affluent, educated white voters, while Republicans are making gains with working-class and nonwhite voters. The erosion of Democratic support among these key constituencies isn’t because voters don’t want to back a woman—it’s because the party has lost touch with the issues that matter to them. If this continues, the demographic foundations that have long been assumed to be Democratic strongholds could shift in the GOP’s favor.

    Recent polling data, including surveys from sources like New York Times/Siena and NBC News/Telemundo, highlights these shifts in voter behavior and the growing educational divide within party support, and it has been covered by Nate Silver and the NYT in terms of racial-political depolarization, so this isn’t just me talking out of my ass.

    Edit: It is deeply ironic to see all these anonymous downvotes for a person of color daring to call attention to the growing white affluence of the Democratic Party. It’s as if pointing this out is too much for some people to handle, which really speaks directly to the issue.

    I imagine this situation would be even more dire if democrats weren’t running against a literal fascist. One can’t simply downvote away the reality that democrats are steadily losing the support of racialized minorities and the working class. Imagine how much that support will erode once the Republicans aren’t running Orange Jesus.