Wendell Pierce attends the Gotham Week Honors at Brooklyn Navy Yard on October 2, 2024, in Brooklyn, New York. | Source: Dominik Bindl / Getty
Actor Wendell Pierce on Thursday offered pointed criticism in response to remarks made by former President Barack Obama during a surprise stop at a Pittsburgh campaign field office where Obama addressed the topic of Black men who are reluctant or unwilling to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
It’s no secret that some polls have shown that Donald Trump, in the last year or so, has gained marginal support among Black people, mostly Black men, which is why Obama took the time to “speak some truths” on the matter.
Before we get into Pierce’s response, here’s a quick recap of what all Obama said, via NPR:
“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,” he said.
“That lack of enthusiasm for Harris,” he said, “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.”
He chided voters who were voting for Trump or not casting a vote at all.
“And you are thinking about sitting out?” he said. “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.”
Obama said, “women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time.”
“When we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting,” he said.
Now, here’s how Pierce responded:
“Awful message,” The Wire actor tweeted. “The party has to stop scapegoating Black men. Black men aren’t the problem. White men and White women are. No other group votes at 87-90% for Dems but Black folk. Men and women. That is a false flag. Black men voting for Trump is insignificant. This accusatorial tone will make some Black men stay home-which is worse. Black men are questioning our party to find out what their loyalty for decades earns them. That’s good. That’s healthy. Democrats have the record to stand on and should embrace the challenge. But after touring this country specifically engaging Black men, I will not let my party leaders speak [condescendingly] towards them.”
So, for the most part, Pierce is right. The thing Obama appears to be missing is that when it comes to Black voter turnout, his elections, especially in 2012, have been the outliers. Ninety-three percent of Black voters voted for Obama in 2008 and that number rose to 95% in 2012. In fact, 2012 represents the only year when Black voter turnout was higher than white voter turnout per capita. In 2008 and 2012, Black voter turnout was the highest it had been since 1964, and it hasn’t been that high in the two elections since.
Furthermore, in 2020, only 87% of Black voters voted for Joe Biden. In 2000, 90% of Black voters voted for Al Gore over George W. Bush, and that number dropped to 88% in 2004, when Bush beat John Kerry.
In all cases, Black women voted Democrat at higher percentages than Black men. For example, 96% of Black women vs. 87% of Black men voted for Obama in 2012, and that bridge between Black women and men was similar in 2016 and 2020.
But, really, none of this matters, because, when it comes down to it, what Pierce pointed out leads to the more relevant question: Why are we even talking about how Black men vote when the overwhelming majority of them still vote Democrat, and will still vote that way in November?
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, 20% of Black men vote for Trump in November. That would still mean 80% voted for Harris, which means, just like in every election for the past few decades at least, more Black men will vote Democrat than men in any other racial group — by a lot.
Notably, that’s an extremely generous hypothetical. Regardless of the slight uptick in Black Trump support, Black men are still an overwhelmingly Democratic base, and that is not likely to change any time soon.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
But despite his campaign’s outreach, any narrative that suggests Harris might lose out on support from young Black men ignores the data. Black people under 50 are virtually no more likely to vote Republican in 2024 than they were 30 years ago, said Kiana Cox, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center.
In 1994, 16% of Black voters younger than 50 leaned Republican. Today, said Cox, that number is 17%.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in mid-September found most Black voters of all ages and genders viewed Trump negatively, with only 15% reporting a somewhat or very favorable view of him — a slim percentage in line with the Republican preference seen among Black voters over the last 30 years.Political experts and organizers — who are also Black men under 50 — said the hysteria about their demographic defecting to the Republican Party is at best overblown and, at worst, an attempt to cast blame on Black men in the event Harris loses to Trump.
No poll has shown such a significant increase in Black support for Trump that it would even come close to being the reason the election swings his way. As Pierce noted, if that’s the way it shakes out next month, we will largely have white voters to thank as they will be what they have been for decades — the only majority racial demographic that votes Republican. White people have voted overwhelmingly for Trump two elections in a row, and they will for a third time in November. There’s so much media scrutiny when it comes to minority voters, while the GOP’s most loyal voter base largely goes un-examined.
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean Obama should have focused his attention on white people. I’m not even sure what the point would have been for him to try appealing to the same demographic that pressured him to show two forms of his birth certificate to prove he was eligible to be president after he was elected.
Obama appeared to be going for a “Black man to Black man” approach, which is arguably understandable. But when Black people — men and women — are the most loyal voting bloc for a party that never really has to work very hard to earn our votes apart from being demonstrably less racist than the other side, it just seems kind of arbitrary.
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