A couple of weeks ago a New York Times story about young black voters being “skeptical” about Hillary attention trended on Twitter and got lots of national attention (www.nytimes.com/...). It factually pointed out that many African Americans aren’t wild about Hillary, but it didn’t do such a good job of pointing out that given our choices, black people--young, old and middle aged--will vote for Hillary in droves in 2016.
But to be honest, that skepticism--warranted or not--is there. And it’s not based on any of the ridiculous, GOP manufactured and sustained scandals like Benghazi or emails. Most black people see that nonsense for exactly what it is...nonsense.
The truth is many of the black people in my circle--family, church, gym, work, etc.--didn’t appreciate much of the stuff Hillary said about then-candidate Barack Obama during the heated 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary season. We interpreted much of it as Southern Strategy race-baiting on her part. And of course, there was her ginormous gaffe when she suggested that although she was losing and it was late in the race, she was still in it because Bobby Kennedy got assassinated, so who knows? Anything can happen.
Here’s an excerpt from a Politico.Com article published May 23, 2008 (www.politico.com/...):
Hillary Clinton today cited the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign to explain why she was remaining in the race despite long odds.
"We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California," Clinton told the editorial board of a South Dakota newspaper. " I don't understand it," Clinton added, alluding to the calls for her to quit.
That might have been the worst choice of words ever. Needless to say, many black people interpreted her statement as saying, “Obama might get shot. I have a chance.”
Given our sensitivity to the threats Obama has faced since the day he announced, we were rightfully incensed by that callous statement...and never forgot it.
Since then, Hillary’s relationship with President Obama has been strong and we see her as the candidate most likely to carry on his policies and cement his legacy. That’s why we overwhelmingly supported her over Bernie Sanders and will do so by even wider margins over Donald Trump in the General Election.
As for Trump, I think you’d be hard pressed to find anybody black who’d say anything positive about him other than Omarosa, Dennis Rodman, Hershel Walker, Mike Tyson, Terrell Owens, Stacey Dash, Don King, Ben Carson or those two fool so-called “pastors"--Darrell Scott and Mark Burns. Not exactly a Who’s Who of the sharpest knives in the drawer.
Not once have I EVER heard anybody black that I’ve talked to or even overheard say they like anything about Trump or would even consider voting for him. Not once. Just the mention of his name elicits sighs and major league side-eyes...almost always followed by adjectives like racist, clown, sexist, dumbass, con man and big mouth. The folks I know aren’t going for Trump’s "okee doke." You don’t say things “about” people to one audience and say different things when you're talking "to" them. Going to that black church in Detroit and faking the spirit actually backfired on him with black people. He'll be lucky to get 3-4 percent of our vote.
So yeah, we’re solidly behind Hillary and so is the President. Speaking at a rally for Hillary in Philadelphia on Sept. 12, President Obama said, "No matter how daunting the odds, no matter how many times people knock her down and mess with her, she does not quit. And that's why I really want to get her elected," said President Obama. “Even though I have run my last campaign, I am going to work as hard as I can this fall to elect Hillary Clinton as our next president.”
And if she’s good enough for him, she’s definitely good enough for 95%-plus of black voters.