[Baltimore Sun] Black men in Maryland politics urge votes for Kamala Harris, Angela Alsobrooks
Read Time:5 Minute, 18 Second
Though he now faces criticism for it, former President Barack Obama opened dialogue for a larger conversation on misogyny in American politics after calling out Black men who have not come out in full-throated support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
“We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama, who has endorsed Harris and Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks, said during an appearance in Pittsburgh last week. “I’ve got a problem with that, because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men, directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
The Harris campaign put out an agenda Monday to appeal to Black male voters, which includes plans to provide forgivable business loans to Black entrepreneurs, create more apprenticeships and mentorship programs, better regulation for cryptocurrency, launch a health equity initiative to address diseases that disproportionately affect Black men, and legalize recreational cannabis.
Flavio Hickel Jr., an assistant professor of political science at Washington College, said that he thinks Obama was attempting to address the “enthusiasm gap” by trying to remind a segment of undecided Black voters that they can make a difference.
“There does tend to be a little bit of resentment or chafing when it’s asserted that there is a group interest — particularly a racial group interest — and that you’re not doing your duty if there is a different perspective,” Hickel said of Obama’s remarks. “Some people may respond to Obama’s comments and say, ‘I think I’m being called out,’ … and that may rub people the wrong way.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat and surrogate for both the Harris and Alsobrooks campaigns, has also been on the trail making an appeal to Black men to vote for the two prominent Black women at the top of Maryland’s ticket. Scott, 40, is a Black man.
“That is why I am dispatched, in many cases — to talk, in particular, to Black men about why it’s important that the Vice President becomes the next president of the United States because of what we’re facing here,” Scott said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun on Monday afternoon. “We’re talking about the opportunity to continue historic levels of progress that we’ve seen for Black folks in this country over the past four years.”
Scott pointed to the low levels of Black unemployment, investments made to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and declining crime rates under the Biden-Harris administration as reasons for Black men to cast their ballots for Harris.
He also highlighted civil rights and the Democratic process that many feel are at risk of being erased if former President Donald Trump is reelected.
“Why would we risk that, in particular, for Black people — in particular, for Black men — to go back to someone who we know does not have our back, who we know will turn back time and go back to zero-tolerance policing, when Black men across this country were arrested in droves for nothing other than being outside?” the mayor said.
To Scott, the same applies if former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, were to be elected to the U.S. Senate over Alsobrooks.
In an interview with The Sun’s editorial board Monday, Alsobrooks said that, in her experience of this election cycle, she has seen high levels of engagement on an intersectional basis.
“What I have seen is almost everywhere we’ve gone, people are really, really excited, and I think they’re coming out to vote,” Alsobrooks said. “I expect to see high voter turnout in this election. I think people get the stakes of it, and I’ve seen it cross-generationally, as well.”
Support among Maryland’s Black voters for both Harris and Alsobrooks is high.
Approximately 230 Black people participated in a University of Maryland, Baltimore County Institute of Politics poll of 1,003 Maryland adults conducted from Sept. 23 to Sept. 28. Asked if they view Vice President Kamala Harris favorably, 86% said yes. Asked the same regarding Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks, 77% said they view her favorably.
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Scott and Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, have been loyal supporters of Harris and Alsobrooks since the early days of both of their campaigns.
Moore, a Democrat who had been stumping for President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race, came out in full support of Harris the day after she announced her candidacy.
He also spoke highly of Harris during his August speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Moore has been traveling across the state, speaking to “key constituencies, including Black men,” a Moore spokesman said, to address issues like economic opportunity, access to capital, and strong pathways to work, wages, and wealth.
Scott was one of the first Maryland politicians to voice support of Harris’ presidential candidacy, saying “Black women have saved this country time and time again” in a post on X.
Scott echoed those words in an interview Monday, adding that “the Black woman is the most disrespected human being on the planet,” and that they constantly face claims that they are unfit to lead.
“That’s also the message that I have, in a way, for Black men,” Scott said, “we have to remember and know what Black women have done — for our communities, for our families, for our culture — for all these years, and every Black man has has the responsibility to, at bare minimum, push back when people are attacking these two Black women, and also make sure that we support them in every way that we can — not just because they’re Black and they’re a woman, but because they’ve proven their policies and their records speak the truth that they will be representing us and not … personal interest.”
Have a news tip? Contact Hannah Gaskill at hgaskill@baltsun.com, (410) 320-2803 and on X as @hnnhgskllalso.
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