Speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday, Vice President Harris said she intends to earn the votes of Black men. An NAACP poll released last Friday shows she has her work cut out for her. Young Black men in particular appear more open to voting for Donald Trump than ever before. If enough do – or simply stay home – that could tip the scale in the former president’s favor. Here is how Vice President Harris can prevent that scenario from coming to fruition.
Show Her Love for Black Men:
First and foremost, the Vice President must convince Black men she has their back. Not all Black men love that she worked as a prosecutor. They have questions about how many Black men she put away and wonder what kind of criminal justice policies she would back as president. This after Donald Trump passed a major criminal justice reform bill while in office. But long before Trump suddenly started to supposedly care about releasing Black men from jail, Kamala Harris was actually implementing initiatives to keep them out of jail in the first place. The problem is there’s a lot of misinformation swirling around out there directed towards Black men. The Harris campaign must target them on social media with ads that set the record straight. Along with that, offering some specifics about the reforms the Vice President would champion as president would go a long way to reassuring Black men who have been impacted by the criminal justice system that she sees them.
Create a Blueprint for Black Men:
The Vice President also should lay out an affirmative and holistic vision for how she will improve the lives of Black men as president. Her economic policies – from investing in small businesses to making homeownership more achievable – will do a lot to help Black men. As will her policies around mental health, education, childcare, and more. If I was advising the Harris campaign, I would recommend that they package those policies into a sort of “Blueprint for Black Men” that outlines how she intends to uplift the community. Her campaign could then build a tour around it, allowing the Vice President to speak directly to Black men on a range of issues and demonstrate to them the ways in which she will work to address their needs as president.
Bring in Local Support:
To carry these messages, the Harris campaign should continue deploying local voices in communities across the country. It’s these local voices who already are trusted and can effectively make the case for Kamala Harris to their friends and neighbors. Black men hold every job imaginable, but in the Black community, barbers, pastors, educators, and coaches hold positions of special influence. The Harris campaign should work with local organizers to identify those leaders and train them as surrogates. The goal should be to facilitate honest conversations in barber shops, churches, schools, and recreational centers to bring Black men around.
To be sure, the Harris campaign has been aggressively courting Black men recently. They have held dozens of events in swing state barber shops and churches. They have arranged interviews with Vice President Harris on Black radio. They put Black men at the forefront of the Vice President’s Economic Opportunity Tour. And yet, here we are, with 26% of Black men under 50 years old supporting Trump. Their disillusionment is deeply rooted and driven by cycles of Democratic leaders who have over-promised and under-delivered. The Vice President has an opportunity to address these frustrations directly on the campaign trail and demonstrate the power of keeping one’s word once elected.
Having worked for the Vice President, I know her commitment to earning the Black male vote is earnest. She understands that Black men are not “in anybody’s pocket,” and her campaign is doing the work. By combating misinformation about her record, leaning into a policy agenda for Black men, and leveraging the power of trusted local voices, the Harris campaign can continue to work smart – and hard – to win with Black men in November.
Gevin Reynolds is a communications strategist and former speechwriter to Vice President Kamala Harris.