By Mecca Fowler
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. View more opinion on ScoonTV.
Democrats are lagging in support among black voters as we head into the 2022 midterm elections. Particularly, there has been a notable shift in black men not voting Democrat, a trend that has increased since 2008. Although black people still overwhelmingly prefer Democrats, the percentages have drastically decreased, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll.
According to a New York Times-Siena poll published in July, black people overall were becoming less optimistic about the capacity of the American political system to address the country’s issues.
Democrats are aware of the support that they are losing, yet they do not have quantifiable tangible campaign promises to give specifically to black men. For example, Georgia Governor-hopeful Stacey Abrams has gone out of her way several times to emphasize how much her winning the governor’s seat depends on black men voting for her. “If black men vote for me, I will win Georgia,” Abrams said at a campaign event titled “Stacey and the Fellas,” in August.
However, her “Black Men’s Agenda,” does not include any tangible promises for black men specifically. You could even say only three of the bullet points directly benefit black people in general (the three that mention the word black).
Democrats in general appear to be out of touch with most Americans, so being out of touch with black men is not surprising. The one area that they don’t cease to baffle me on is how they pander to black people (black men specifically) to get their vote. In the latest stunt that went viral on Twitter, rappers Saucy Santana and Trina created an advertisement encouraging black people to vote called “No Voting, No Vucking.” The effort is a collaboration with BLK, an all-black dating app and Michelle Obama-founded organization When We All Vote.
The song talks about if men aren’t doing their civic duty to vote, then women shouldn’t have sex with them. One line by Trina says “legs in the air, I don’t care, anyone can get it, universal healthcare. If you want to f*ck come before the deadline, come into the jacuzzi, gerrymander this c*ochie.” In the end, Santana says, “if the c*ochie is the goal, go hit them polls.” In the video, the main subject is a black man.
In the quote tweets of the video, several Twitter users who appeared to be black men tweeted about their disdain for these types of campaigns. Podcaster Zeek Arkham tweeted “This is degrading and embarrassing. Instead of having an honest, intelligent conversation with black potential voters, they thought this was appropriate… whatever this is. In order for real progress to happen in the black community, acts like this need to be condemned.”
Another tweeter asked, “How you sexualize, VOTING!?!” Another said “This ain’t it, the democrats are very disrespectful. Nothing policy wise but here’s another rap video with a rainbow rapper & Trina. When will people wake up to this, they have no more plays to run but shame black men & push agendas while getting black women on board with it.”
To make it frank, the song is dehumanizing and disrespectful. It follows a long list of left-leaning politicians and organizations pandering for black men’s vote by advertising hyper-sexual themes as if that’s all that it takes to get black men to the polls. It’s reminiscent of the 2020 campaign “Get Your Booty To The Poll.” In that campaign, a bunch of strippers and exotic dancers made a PSA specifically targeted to black male voters.
This misrepresentation of black men and women has to stop. These stunts are tiring. No other racial demographic is over-sexualized to attract their vote by Democrat-aligned organizations except black people. Why are we the only demographic that this is publicly acceptable to do this to? They must not think that we have serious conversations about policies within the black community. Polls show that subjects such as the country making an economic recovery are a high priority for black voters overall.
The Democrats are very unserious about campaigning on policies and legislation that would affect black men. If they are serious about thinking that this is the best approach to recruit voters, then we need to have an entirely different discussion. The Democratic Party has demonstrated that it is incapable and unable to respond to the issues facing typical black Americans. black men are demanding more realistic tangible campaign promises that can help them in their everyday lives.
As sociologist Rashawn Ray put it, “Successful candidates must work harder to understand black men’s priorities and speak to our aspirations for a better future. Save your slogans and your soundbites, black men are looking for an authentic plan to address economic growth in black communities, vocational and technological training that aligns with jobs, access to social services, and criminal justice reform.”
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