By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
A few of weeks ago, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris launched the Black Voters for Biden-Harris, a national organizing program to bolster their continued investments in outreach to Black voters, who are essentially the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition.
“The launch of the Black Voters for Biden-Harris coalition is yet another example of our campaign working diligently to earn every single vote. This coalition and the newly announced summer outreach and engagement programming serve as the next phase of our campaign’s ongoing historic investments,” says Quentin Fulks, Biden-Harris Deputy Principal Campaign Manager.
The campaign believes that Black voters deserve to hear from Team Biden-Harris, and they deserve to have their vote earned, not assumed. The team also strongly believes that no campaign has gone to the measures that Biden-Harris has to value Black voters.
“Since day one, the Biden-Harris campaign has been authentic and consistent in our efforts to reach Black voters and ensure they are aware that no other administration in modern history has delivered for Black America in the way Biden and Harris have,” says Trey Baker, Biden-Harris Senior Advisor.
As part of the launch, the campaign had a number of Black leaders across the country highlight the ways the Biden-Harris administration has delivered for Black Americans, by achieving record-low Black unemployment, increasing Black wealth by 60%, ensuring more Black Americans have health care coverage, capping the price of insulin at $35 per month for seniors, and forgiving billions of dollars in student loan debt.
“While the Black unemployment rate skyrocketed under Trump, the Biden-Harris administration helped to create over 2.5 million jobs for Black workers,” says Baker.
In addition to achieving record-low Black unemployment, Biden’s student loan forgiveness program has significantly benefited Black Americans, who received nearly $160 billion in student loan debt forgiveness.
“These efforts are directly working to close the racial wealth gap as Black students take on 85% more educational debt than their white counterparts, and 86% of Black students graduate with debt,” Baker.
At Black community dinners, press conferences, Black-owned small business tours, rallies, and other campaign events held throughout the country, Black leaders are also highlighting how Donald Trump has made life worse for Black America as a president, and how, if re-elected, Trump would continue to demean and hurt Black communities by repealing the Affordable Care Act, stripping away healthcare from millions of Black Americans, continuing to divide the nation emboldening white supremacists and supporting policies that widen the racial wealth gap.
“While we are busy putting in the work to earn Black America’s support, Donald Trump continues to show just how ignorant he is,” says Fulks. “Hosting janky rap concerts doesn’t hide the fact that he lacks the resources and competence to genuinely engage our community.”
According to Baker, historic investments and engagement with Black media, extensive travel by President Biden and Vice President Harris, and innovative organizing programs that highlight the administration’s commitment to generating Black wealth, the campaign says that they are meeting Black voters where they are.
“We will continue to be aggressive, innovative, and thorough in our work to earn the support of the very voters who sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House in 2020 and will do so again in 2024,” says Fulks.
Baker agrees and says that while the Biden-Harris Administration has a strong track record of delivering impactful legislation and polices for the Black community, they must continue to remind Black voters of their accomplishments and provide them with a level of expectation that they will continue to support the needs of the Black community if re-elected.
“From the very beginning, the President and Vice President have been clear that this campaign will not take a single voter for granted. We are not, and will not, parachute into these communities at the last minute, expecting their vote,” says Baker. “Every day, from now until election day, we will continue working diligently to ensure that come November, Black voters send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House to continue delivering for Black America in unprecedented ways.”
