Best Believe Black Men Will Vote for Kamala. But What About White Women...?

Toward the end of Vice President Kamala Harris' Audio Townhall with "The Breakfast Club" host Charlemagne Tha God on Tuesday (Oct. 15), he asked her about the quip former President Barack Obama made about the perceived lack of support for her from Black men this election.

"President Obama was out there last week waving his finger at Black men...when are Liz Cheney and Hillary Clinton gonna wave their finger at white women? When are Bill Clinton and Joe Biden gonna wave their finger at white men?" Charlamagne asked.

It was a legitimate question. Obama's choice of words set off a controversy in which many Black men felt singled out as if they were the problem. But that math ain't mathin.'

According to Pew Research , 47 percent of white women and 62 percent of white men voted for Trump in 2016. A later Pew study showed that in 2020, 53 percent of white women backed Trump and 57 percent of white men did so.

Those same studies show that in 2016, Black women showed up for Clinton, giving her 98 percent of their votes, and Black men voted for her with 81 percent of theirs. Those numbers were nearly the same with Black women supporting President Biden by 95 percent, and Black men backing him with an increase to 87 percent.

With those numbers, it seems that Black men are not the people anyone needs to focus on when it comes to their support for Harris this election cycle. The real dilemma for Democrats is the people who are actually voting for Trump, and despite what social media rhetoric claims, that problem does not lie in the Black community at all...and that includes Black men.

It would be better to ask why Democrats are not convincing more white voters to support them when polls show the race is still perilously close. In particular, why are so many white women behind Trump, a man who has shown he stands against their interests ?

Regardless, this isn't a problem the brothas are obligated to solve for others. In truth, Obama spoke to a group of Black men in Pittsburgh about particular Black men who were cynical or skeptical about voting for Harris:"You're thinking about sitting out, or even supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you?" he asked. So he wasn't speaking to all Black men, but he was still barking up the wrong tree. We don't even know if the Black men who are so loudly critical of Harris will even cast a ballot.

And, as Charlemagne pointed out, where is the smoke for the people who are the actual problem?

My guess is if Trump does get elected, it will be because white women gave him enough backing on top of what white men have already been doing — to push him toward the needed 270 electoral votes. The real issue in our community is getting Black people to the polls in general. A recent Brennan Center study showed an increasing racial gap in voter turnout. Black people were behind by 15 percentage points, costing millions of ballots.

So vote. If you can early vote, that would be even better. You might not dig the political theater that happens every election cycle...trust me, I hate it. But I'm not going to let it keep me from casting a ballot and neither should you.

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Madison J. Gray is a New York-based journalist. He blogs at www.starkravingmadison.com .