Last week, I sat in my homegirl’s living room watching night two of the Democratic National Convention while she refreshed my knotless braids. My friend’s boyfriend (We will call him David for this article) also sat watching the convention. We began to chat about some of the challenges that Kamala faces. One of those challenges being why there is such a large number of African American Men against Kamala. David shared that he was just in the barbershop and this was a big topic. Most of the men made statements like “She doesn’t claim being black.” “She locks men up for petty charges.” “I was going to vote for Biden, but I just can’t vote for her.” “Im not voting for her just because she is black” or the classic “America isn’t ready for a black women president.” I have also seen an uptick on my social feeds of Black Men sharing that they are not voting for Harris because of the international funding the war in Gaza.
It’s disheartening to me when I hear black men express the lack of support and interest for an overqualified candidate who would make history as the First Woman president, especially when Barak Obama ran as the First Black President back in 2008 and had the support of what felt like the entire black community. The reality is that the lack of support stems from misogyny, and it makes me sick. These men would instead allow a bigoted felon to win the election rather than vote for a woman who looks like their mother, cousin, sister, or daughter and is highly qualified.
Misogyny (noun) – dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.
Every Black or brown person, and every woman, has direct evidence from their lived experience of just how deeply America hates them.
– Elie Mystal
Some “educated” brothers have turned to mask their misogyny under the guise of international affairs. You may say, well, Posh Auntie, that is a legit reason. It is. The genocide overseas is horrendous! My issue is these folks haven’t sent money to Gaza or volunteered to end the fight in any way and as a matter of fact, they have never spoken out about the war in Gaza until they needed an out on why they weren’t going to vote for a black woman. The truth is, America has been supporting Israel for almost 40 years. Why is the goalpost always being moved when it comes to black women? Expectations are always extreme for black women. They can’t say she isn’t educated enough so they lean into her physical looks, who she is married to, and topics that were existing issues before she even started her campaign two months ago.
I believe that we should always challenge ANY candidate and push them to promote issues we all care about. One caveat to this is that it’s hard for the black community to mobilize when we struggle to get people out to vote every election season. If we could get away from this “My vote doesn’t count,” we would have more opportunity to mobilize and create a list of needs like our white counterparts. I believe we will get there one day, but based on the country’s climate right now, the platform that Kamala is running on fits the bill for me!
I do want to shout out all the black men who are supporting and not biased! I love and appreciate you <3
If you want to learn more about Kamala Harris and her platform, you can review her plan on her website: https://kamalaharris.com.
