Black men took some heat for the 25 percent of them who voted for Donald Trump. Black men have traditionally voted Democrat, and even though 75 percent still voted Democrat this time, it was unusual to see so many vote for a white man who, to put it mildly, has a checkered history on race relations.
What is it Black men want from the party?
Most Black male Trump supporters say solely blaming their reluctance to support Harris on sexism is an oversimplification of why they didn’t vote for her. They insist their vote was a condemnation of the Democratic Party, which they feel has been taking the Black vote for granted for years. There is indeed a growing perception of the party neglecting the African American community, and it is starting to affect voting patterns. But what is it Black men want from the party?
One major thing Democrats failed to do was solidify the Voting Rights Act when they had the chance. It only took two Democrats to derail the party’s efforts to shore up the VR after the conservative Supreme Court gutted it with the Shelby vs. Holder decision. They had decades before that to codify this law, despite hundreds of Black people who were beaten and murdered over the right to vote in this country. Now, in 2025, Black people still run the risk of being disenfranchised through gerrymandering and onerous voting restrictions thanks to Democrat inaction.
Police reform was another hot-button issue where the Democrats dropped the ball. According to a KFF poll, 7 out of 10 Black Americans say they have encountered incidents of discrimination and/or mistreatment by police. Three out of 10 Black men say they have experienced police violence. And we can’t forget Tamir Rice, Orlando Castille, Mike Brown, Tyre Nichols, George Floyd, and a whole host of others whose deaths illustrate the tragedy of police violence. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which is designed to mitigate police violence, needs to be a top priority for Democrats in the future.
Housing is a serious bread and butter issue for Black men. Black people make up 13% of the American population, but comprise 40% of the nation’s homeless. In 2019 more than half of all homeless families were Black. Democrats would make a huge impression pushing for vigorous programs to help the homeless find affordable housing, in addition to a robust low-interest loan program to help Black men own homes. A government-sponsored low-interest business loan program to help disproportionately overlooked Black entrepreneurs obtain business loans would also help.
Additionally, free college tuition up to a bachelor’s degree and targeted job training for Black college graduates could alleviate plenty of political bitterness. Black college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than white college graduates. Four years after graduation, Black students also owe an average of 188% more than what white students owe. This has plenty to do with Black students’ families being too poor to contribute any significant resources to their tuition and student housing. Entering the work force with the equivalent of a home mortgage hanging on your back, but without the benefit of a home, weighs heavily on young Black men and women. That frustration is finally coming to a boil on Election Day.
Then there’s the matter of prison reform. There are more Black men in college than there are in prison—1.4 million vs 840,000—but we are still woefully overrepresented. According to the Pew Research Center, Black men made up 33% of the sentenced prison population in 2018, nearly triple their 12% share of the US population. Thanks to limited justice reforms, the legalization of marijuana and other factors, our incarceration rate dropped in 2021 but remained 5.5% higher than that of white men. Democrats need a national comprehensive prison reform program that includes mandatory education programs, job training and assisted release to prevent recidivism or the nation’s prison system will never be rehabilitative.
Centrists are attacking the party for being too “progressive,” but centrist arguments will not bring Black men back to the fold. Progressive economic policies are most popular with Black people, and Democrats need to lean into them. We’re talking about the push for a livable wage, universal healthcare, affordable college, and a progressive tax plan that makes the wealthy pay their fair share. These are things Harris failed to emphasize enough in her campaign. Whether or not the party realizes this in time for the midterm elections remains to be seen.
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Charlie R. Braxton is a noted poet, playwright, cultural critic and hip-hop journalist whose work appears in Beatdown, 4080, Blaze, The Source, and others.