“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” — Joe Biden on “The Breakfast Club,” 2020
“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.” — Barack Obama, last week
The condescension inherent in these remarks is one reason why especially young Black men are moving away from the Democratic Party to which Blacks have been joined at the hip since the Franklin Roosevelt administration. This kind of tribal “group think” is designed to keep certain demographics in line and voting in perpetuity for Democrats.
Former President Obama, the only former president in my lifetime not to leave Washington after his administration ended, has revealed by his comments there is much worry in the party that even a small departure of young Black voters could spell doom for Democrats in the coming election.
Obama is right to be concerned. According to the 2024 National Black Voter Project Longitudinal Study, a growing number of young Black voters are becoming more conservative than their Civil Rights-era parents and grandparents.