Will the Lack of Support from Black Male Voters Cost Harris the 2024 Presidential Election?

Written by Tyhisia Desir

In a recent canvassing trip to Pennsylvania, just a week before the 2024 primary presidential election, registered Black male voters in the local area were interviewed about their plans to support the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the upcoming election. 

Rodd Campbell, a 69-year-old Black man from Philadelphia, PA, strongly suggested he would not be exercising his right to vote in the upcoming election because he believes his “vote will not make a difference.” The deeply rooted systemic racism and the continuous fight for liberty through unjust adversities have  made Black male voters feel unheard, regardless of their vote in the election.  

The Philadelphia resident speaks for himself and other Black men  in his community with a  hesitancy to vote due to a disconnect from politics and the belief that voting is “an ineffective way to gain equality and justice” in a capitalist society that already considers the Black race, more specifically Black men,  to be inferior.  

Despite efforts and various forms of advocacy from  Harris administration campaign supporters and promises from the Vice President herself through her “opportunity agenda for Black men” if elected to  presidential office, Campbell remains hopeless about his future in America. He does not believe the Democratic nominee will successfully execute her plan, and if she does, it will be “targeted toward a specific demographic of Black men .”  

The public questions whether Kamala Harris will collect the necessary number of votes she needs from Black men  to get ahead in the polls on November 5th and be named the next, first Black female President of the United States.