I told you so

Larry Smith For the last few years, I have been sounding the alarm that the Democratic Party neither understands nor values Black men. Party leaders just don’t “get” Black men socio-culturally; they cannot seem to grasp that we are a distinct group within the Democratic coalition and that we have distinct wants and needs. That is the sad reality both at the national level and at the local level in many areas of the country.   Further, the Democratic Party does not value Black men specifically, which isn’t surprising given that they do not value Black folks generally. They take us for granted because we’re the most dependable voting bloc for them and are nearly always unwilling to vote Republican given that party’s refusal to address its racism. Apparently, that is beginning to change. Several recent polls suggest that a substantial portion of African Americans are supporting Donald Trump for president. For example, a recent survey from GenForward found that 17 percent of African Americans said that they would vote for Trump over Biden. These numbers, which track with surveys from The New York Times and from Axios, would have been unthinkable in the recent past. Black men are the primary...