Obama Is Blaming Black Men for the Democratic Party’s Failures | Opinion

In both 2008 and 2012, I was proud to be an Ohio delegate for President Barack Obama. So I was shocked to hear what former President Obama had to say while speaking to Black men during a surprise visit to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign field office in Pittsburgh.

His words made my jaw hit the floor. In fact, they made my blood boil.

President Obama had some choice words for the enthusiasm gap for Vice President Harris specifically when it comes to Black men. “My understanding, based on reports I’m getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” President Obama said, and then went on to lecture Black men about their lack of support for Harris. “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.”

I was infuriated to hear these remarks. No other group of voters is talked to like this, as if they are children. But it’s not just the paternalistic tone that had me enraged. It’s the underlying message in his words—that Black men are misogynistic and can’t bring themselves to vote for a woman.

This vilification of our men is out of line. For starters, it’s false. Black men are socialized in the same patriarchal society that every other American man is socialized in, yet when Secretary Hillary Clinton ran for President in 2016, 81 percent of Black men voted for her, while only 32 percent of white men did the same.

As for Black men allegedly being so reticent to vote for Vice President Harris, her lowest numbers are with Black men under 50 years old—72 percent of whom support Harris.

If white men supported Harris at 72 percent, they’d be held up as an example of how men can support women. So why are Democratic Party leaders like former President Obama vilifying Black men?

It’s simple: The Democratic Party is setting Black men up to take the fall in case Vice President Harris fails to defeat former President Trump in November. It’s that simple.

And it is an outrage that they are trying to pin this on Black men. If Harris loses, it will not be on Black men or any other group of voters. The fault will lie squarely with the candidate and the party she represents.

It is her job to appeal to Black men—not to lecture those who aren’t feeling it.

I’ve spoken to some of them personally. In recent years, after my time as an Ohio State Senator and the Chair of Engagement for the Ohio Democratic Party, I’ve traveled our country talking to voters—especially Black working class people. I’ve spent the past year in rooms with Black labor leaders and rank and file members, with Black-led organizations organizing for reparations and Black elected officials. Just this week, my organization We Are Somebody Fund announced a significant investment in Black voter outreach for this election.

I have talked at length with Black men who vote. My dad is a Black man who votes. My son is a Black man who votes. My brother is a Black man who votes. Most of the Black men in my life vote.

The Black men I speak to who are not enthusiastic about Vice President Harris are not enthusiastic with the Democratic Party as a whole. They feel left behind and ignored. Black men are concerned with the economy, jobs, the criminal justice system, and wages—issues they do not see the Democratic Party addressing aggressively enough.

They shouldn’t be blamed for the Democratic Party’s failures. They should be granted the dignity of voting on their interests as they perceive them like everyone else. And if the Democratic Party is failing to galvanize their support, maybe the Party should ask what it’s doing wrong, rather than blaming Black men.

We’re seeing something of a historical development in this election cycle. On May 22, 1962, Minister Malcolm X addressed a group of Black people in Los Angeles, California, in which he spoke to the plight of Black women. He said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman.The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”

He was correct, and sadly, this still rings true today. But I think if Minister Malcolm X was alive today, he might see things a bit more expansively. These days, it feels like the most vilified person in America is the Black man.

When Vice President Harris became the Democratic nominee, it was widely accepted that she would have to choose a white man as her running mate to appeal to white voters. To appeal to never-Trump Republicans, the Harris-Walz campaign is holding events with former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney. They’ve invited multiple Republicans to speak at the DNC, and Vice President Harris has even committed to appointing a Republican to her cabinet if elected.

Yet Black men who are already feeling pushed out of the Party get scolded and painted as misogynistic if they feel rejected or ignored. Black men overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. Black men overwhelmingly support the woman running for President. Black men do support women. I am a witness. I am blessed to have Black men in my life who support me.

Out of all the groups of men, Black men are the backbone of men in the Democratic Party. It’s time they are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve and not spoken to like children who need to be told what to do.

It’s setting Black men up to be the scapegoats in case of a Trump victory. This Black woman will not stand for it.

Nina Turner is a former Ohio state senator, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School, and the founder of We Are Somebody.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.