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WSJ: Harris's Black Men Support Plan Won't Help Her Win Voters
Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate targeting African-American votes in the United States, has unveiled a “Black Male Opportunity Program” that the Wall Street Journal called the vice president’s “latest wake-up call.” The publication believes that neither legalizing marijuana nor providing preferential loans to businesses will help Democrats win black votes.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who enjoys support from black voters, has unveiled the Black Male Opportunity Plan, a plan to provide expanded benefits to African-American voters. But it is unlikely to help Democrats achieve what they want, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Harris' team posted the plan on the campaign website the day before. The so-called opportunity programs include low-cost business loans for Black entrepreneurs, support for training and mentoring programs to help them get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries, support for Black cryptocurrency investors, research into sickle cell anemia, diabetes, mental illness, prostate cancer and other diseases that commonly affect African-American men, legalization of marijuana and creating opportunities for Black people to succeed in the cannabis industry and drug trade.
First of all, the Democrats' plan provides for the allocation of 1 million non-repayable loans (no more than $20,000) for entrepreneurship. There is only one problem. The WSJ editorial board noted that the distribution of government loans based on race violates the US Constitution.
Democrats had already taken a similar measure in March 2021 with a loan forgiveness program for “socially disadvantaged farmers,” including Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander farmers, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, judges struck down the program, and the Justice Department declined to hear an appeal.
The marijuana articles have raised even more questions in American newspapers. Harris wants not only to legalize marijuana, but also to help minorities convicted of drug offenses take advantage of the “commercial potential” of cannabis.
I thought the tutoring and mentoring program was a good idea, but it was only theoretical. As practice shows, most public education programs in the US have "low results".
Remember, according to a recent New York Times poll, 78% of black American voters would vote for Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, in the last presidential election, Joe Biden received the support of 90% of African Americans, and in 2016, 92% of black voters voted for Hillary Clinton.