There is no concern for Democrats losing the black vote to the GOP. As Donovan X. Ramsey writes for the New York Times though, with a focus on black millennials, “the Democratic Party… can’t take them for granted.”
Ramsey speaks of highs from black voters for Obama, not surprising considering he was the first black president. If the highs for Obama at 93-95 percent were to drop back down to the average of 85 percent, the Democrats could lose 2.8 million voters, as Ramsey points to when citing the Washington Post.
When it comes to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and her most formidable rival of Bernie Sanders, Ramsey criticizes their approach of “relying on stale outreach tragedies” rather than “really engaging black millennials where we are.”
Ramsey speaks greatly of the Black Lives Matter. Where he praises Hillary and Sanders is how they have come to respond to the movement, with added emphasis:
Mr. Sanders has arguably shown the most growth. Since being confronted by Black Lives Matter protesters at the Netroots Nation conference in July, he has met privately with activists and published a racial justice agenda that addresses issues of economic, legal, political and physical violence against people of color.
The interactions between the candidates and the members have involved shouting, interruptions, and disrupted events, which the candidates are thus forced to give into, and which is no way to gain real support, for either the candidate or the movement.
Hillary and Sanders are not completely off the hook though, as Ramsey continues on that “these acknowledgments of the Black Lives Matter movement do not rise to such a level that they can be considered outreach to black millennials or a substantive engagement with our issues.”
Regardless of the relevance of the Black Lives Matter movement, Ramsey does know his demographic. Earlier in the piece he also writes that “black millennials are unlike any other generation of black voters the Democratic Party has had to court.” He continues with:
The Democratic Party has “court[ed]” black voters long enough. Perhaps it’s time that black voters and the GOP give each other a chance.
