Black men's votes courted, as some search for political home
NEW YORK (AP) — For Phillip Agnew, engaging Black male voters ahead of the general election isn’t just about persuading them to choose former Vice President Joe Biden over incumbent Donald Trump.
As an activist and organizer who gained acclaim after leading protests in Florida over the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Agnew sees an opportunity to keep the 14.4 million Black men of voting age politically engaged well beyond 2020.
That effort begins with keeping it real about this year’s candidates. Trump’s positions on race and Biden’s decades-old controversial record on criminal justice make neither candidate particularly attractive to Black men.
“You don’t lie, you acknowledge the truth, and admit that the choices before Black people in the year 2020 are abysmal,” said Agnew, an organizer with Black Men Build, a group created to empower Black men.
His group has paid to run targeted ads on TV and music-streaming services such as Hulu and Spotify, supplemented by mailers and organizers on the ground. The message is geared toward Black men who feel politically homeless.
“We are not choosing a champion, we are choosing an opponent,” Agnew said, adding that he is also telling Black men that “a Biden presidency allows for terrain to organize under that is more favorable.”
Following an unprecedented surge of protests against racial injustice and the killing of Black people by law enforcement, partisan and nonpartisan organizations have poured significant resources into increasing Black men’s participation in the election.
And they’re doing so with an acknowledgement that no major political party can lay claim to being a consistently loyal advocate for Black men and women. Whoever comes out ahead among Black men, advocates say, will have succeeded in reaching more of those who are...