After Obama's push for Harris, Black men still seem divided on how they'll vote

When James Hill considers the weight of his singular vote on Nov. 5, he can’t help but think of his grandmother.

Hill, 30, of Pittsburgh’s North Side said his grandmother grew up in the rural South and never dreamed possible that a Black woman would run for president.

“Moments like these, I have a responsibility not just to our communities but people like her, where something like this was a fantasy,” Hill said.

With just under two weeks until Election Day, Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump continue to jockey for support among Black voters. Black male voters have become a focal point, in particular, in the wake of former President Barack Obama’s visit to East Liberty this month in which he appealed to that voting bloc to show up in force on Election Day.

Hill, who worked as executive assistant to former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, attended the Obama visit to the Harris campaign office that day. He described it as a wonderful experience to see and hear from Obama.

“I feel as if perhaps that voice and that context was missing for a lot of people,” Hill said. “In that room, there didn’t seem to be a lot of pushback. People who criticize only addressing the Black community during election seasons may have that view because they don’t consider the full scope of policies that benefit the Black community.”

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released this week found Harris’ support among Black voters strong — 72% compared with 17% who support Trump — but well below what Democrats usually enjoy.

According to the Pew Research Center, 92% of Black voters submitted ballots for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Quaadir Bey, 27, civic coordinator at 1Hood Media, a group that addresses social justice issues and provides education on civic engagement in the Black community, said he has not seen Black men take a more decisive stance in supporting Harris.

“You know, hey, why did (Obama) say this? He’s saying it for a pretty good reason because, if Trump wins a certain percentage of Black male voters, that will mean something to this greater election. It will be a deciding factor,” Bey said.

1Hood Media is engaging in a lot of Get Out the Vote work, Bey said, noting more resources are being allocated to the Pittsburgh region across the board.

“This is the swing state of this election,” he said. “But the greater Pittsburgh area still seems unsure.”

If a significant number of Black men voted, “It would turn into a ‘W’ for Kamala pretty obviously to me,” he said.

On Tuesday, 1Hood is hosting a Black and Brown Men’s Voting Summit at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty, where Black men can talk to one another about the power of their vote.

“Kamala has said candidly that the votes of Black men, like everyone else, must be earned,” said Jasiri X, co-founder of 1Hood Media and host of the podcast “This Week In White Supremacy.” “That started these conversations.

“I really don’t see, personally, the other side doing too much. At our recent event in Homewood, a guy came with some Trump signs … but I don’t see that as any real outreach,” Jasiri X said, adding there has been no substantial outreach or collaboration by Republican operatives with respected figures in the Black community.

Referring to Trump’s attendance at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in July, he said, “He disrespected the convention and individuals who had legitimate critiques of him.”

Harris has put on a full-court press of late. Last week, she announced her Opportunity Agenda for Black Men, which includes education and training to help Black men secure good-paying jobs as well as fully forgivable loans to Black entrepreneurs to start businesses. Harris already has said she supports legalizing marijuana, and her plan calls for working to ensure Black men have opportunities to participate as a “national cannabis industry takes shape,” according to the Associated Press.

According to a recent Pew Research Center study, Black voters are more confident in Harris’ ability to address issues that impact them most.

Trump has courted young Black male voters by visiting predominantly Black churches — he stopped at a community forum at a Black church in Detroit during the summer. He also has been leaning on the inflation issues and the frustration Black men feel with the Democratic Party.

A New York Times/Siena College poll of Black likely voters found the shift for some from Harris to Trump — or away from voting altogether — could stem from that frustration, a belief the Democratic Party has failed to deliver on promises.

Take Louis Berry, for instance.

Berry, 60, of Rankin was in attendance in East Liberty when Obama addressed about 50 people and does not support either candidate. He said he did not vote in the last election.

“That is what it has come to. I’m for sure not going to support former President Donald Trump,” he said. “Obama’s comments were a fatal error to the Harris campaign.”

Berry said a lot of the stereotypes attributed to Black men, such as misogyny, are not accurate. Obama said some men just aren’t feeling having a woman as a president. According to Berry, the gripe the Black community has developed with the Democratic Party began under the Obama administration.

“We don’t have a problem with Kamala Harris. She is just catching the fallout from what he started,” Berry said of Obama. “How are they coming up with policies and rights for everyone else, but we’re still getting slaughtered by police in the streets? We want protection.”

Berry referenced the killings of Black people such as Trayvon Martin in 2012 and Sonya Massey this year.

“We’ve turned our backs on the Democratic Party after supporting them for 60 years. If you don’t support me, I won’t support you,” he said. “And the Republican Party don’t owe us nothing ’cause we haven’t supported them.”

Like Berry, Lemont Boyd, 34, of Mon View Heights in West Mifflin still feels the same way he did about a month ago — he will not be voting. He also does not believe Democrats have done enough for Black people.

“I just don’t want to be a part of it,” Boyd said.

State Rep. Aerion Abney, D-Manchester, said the video clips of Obama speaking were misconstrued in the media to seem as if he was solely speaking to Black men.

“He more or less says that, ‘I am sure everyone here is voting, but we all know some Black men that won’t vote or are going to sit this one out,’” Abney said.

According to Abney, what Obama really addressed was the dichotomy that exists between the two candidates in regard to dignity and character, which matters in a leadership position.

“But it is not just Black men. It’s brown men, Latino men and some people in the white community that are undecided because she is a woman, and they believe she lacks some intangible leadership quality. That should not be a reason to not support her,” Abney said.

“To be honest, as a Black man, he said what needed to be said,” said Brandon Davis, 31, of Lawrenceville. “He plainly cleared up a lot of the sensationalized misinformation.”

Davis knows people who are upset about Obama’s message, but he said, with it being mid-October, there is not a lot of time for these discussions.

“We can’t keep waiting for people to catch on to the nuances. (Harris) has always stood for Black people. … It is almost shameful that she had to specifically say that certain policies are for Black men. You should know that you are included in health care policies,” Davis said.

Anyone supporting Trump is a victim of misinformation, Jasiri X said.

“It’s misinformation that portrays Trump as some alpha male hero, but, if people had the truth about what his policies would do to our community, they would see him for who he is,” he said.

He compared supporting Trump to buying a dream car from a salesman only to have it break down as soon as you drive it off the lot.

“It’s sad that it’s legal to lie that way and that it might actually work,” he said.

Hill said there is only one candidate who prioritizes communities such as the Hill District, where his family is from, and Highland Park, where he grew up.

“Every person has a civic duty to do their part and make sure that continues,” he said.