Well, they’ve certainly gone left on me (and yes, the pun is definitely intended). Let me introduce myself! I’m a 37 year old Black man that is, for the first time, strongly considering voting for a party that is something OTHER THAN DEMOCRAT! I know it’s crazy right? I must be a coon, sellout, or Uncle Tom right? Well, before you call me those names let me at least tell you how I got to this point.

Background

I grew up in a largely socially conservative family. As a child I would go to church on Sunday and I even served in the church as a musician, acolyte, and a member of the audio/sound ministry. Although I was an only child, my extended family is very large with many uncles, aunts, and cousins. Even amongst them, certain topics were frowned upon such as out-of-wedlock births or promiscuity. Sure, we had people in our family who we knew were gay or lesbian but they weren’t flamboyant, and they most certainly didn’t feel the need to expose children to the lifestyle as many in that community feel the need to do now.

Personally, many of the things that liberals/Democrats support now I never really agreed with. For example, I never supported abortion because I felt it was wrong to kill an innocent life in the womb just because it was inconvenient at the time. Now that I have researched the ways abortion negatively affects the Black community, I abhor it (but that’s a different discussion). Or, let’s talk about the border; I never agreed with people being able to waltz across illegally and still benefit from things that I pay taxes for. However, growing up I still received the same rhetoric that many other Black people received: Republicans are racist and Democrats are the ones that actually like Black people. To be honest, a lot of the things that certain Republican/conservative commentators say when talking about the Black community don’t help the situation (but once again, that’s a different discussion). Democrats would at least say something that sounds reasonable when it comes to race so I, like many other Black people, have always voted Democrat in spite of the fact that I didn’t agree with a number of the things Democrats supported.

What Changed?

So what changed? Well, it all started at about the midway point of Trump’s presidency. Everyone was going crazy about Trump wondering how such an evil man could be in office but in the back of my mind I wondered “have the Democrats really done that much for us to be this upset about Trump being in office?” Then Biden announced that he was going to run for office, and boy was that the final straw!

I was always skeptical of Biden, largely due to his involvement with the ’94 crime bill. However, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Hey, everyone makes mistakes right? Then he picked his vice president, Kamala Harris. I heard two narratives online. The first one was that this is a historic moment as Harris would become the first Black female vice president if Biden wins. The second narrative was that although she is Black biologically (and even that is questionable) she has really been anti-Black in her policies as Attorney General in California. So I decided to research her record for myself and boy was I surprised and disappointed when I read about her record as AG and how her decisions negatively affected people, especially Black people. In my mind, if Biden was going to hire another mass incarcerator as his VP, he is still up to his old tricks from the ’94 crime bill. He never changed.

Joe Biden has always been known to gaffe but he made the gaffe of a lifetime while being interviewed by well-known media personality Charlemagne the God. Yes, the infamous “If you don’t vote for me you ain’t Black!” comment. When I heard that it was an indicator of how comfortable he along with Democrats in general has gotten with taking the Black vote for granted. It was like he didn’t even feel that he should have to work for the Black vote as if we are SUPPOSED to vote Democrat. As a Black person, that was offensive and condescending to say the least.

When it was time to go to the voting booth I didn’t vote for either Trump or Biden. At this point I was already disgusted with Biden, but I wasn’t too thrilled with Trump either. Mind you that this was during COVID and I was willing to give Biden credit for taking COVID a little more seriously than Trump did and at the time. I just wanted COVID to be over so life could get back to normal. However, I just couldn’t pull the lever for Biden because he had already rubbed me the wrong way and Kamala irritated me even more.

Eventually, after what I thought was the longest election ever, it was announced that Joe Biden would be president. I wasn’t even too upset about it at the time because I really thought that people were just voting for the lesser of two evils just like elections before. However, the rhetoric from the media outlets on the left such as CNN and MSNBC after he got elected is what really turned my stomach.

Outlets such as CNN and MSNBC had talked about Black women such as Stacy Abrams and others who worked hard to get people to the polls and to campaign for the Democratic party. I began to hear phrases from left wing content creators such as “Black women saved democracy.” Now don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that Black women did a lot to help with Biden’s campaign and their work should be recognized, however, I couldn’t figure out how Black women were given credit for saving the whole election when they only make up a small fraction of the voting population. Not only that, there were Black men that helped Biden’s campaign too such as Rep. Jim Clyburn. Why weren’t the Black men that helped Biden get elected recognized? Then I began to notice something. When the CNNs and MSNBCs of cable news talked about Hispanic people, they would refer to them as the “Hispanic community”; the same with Asians, but when they would talk about the Black community, it was either Black women or Black men (but honestly Black men are mostly ignored on these networks unless it’s to blame them for a loss by Democrats in an election, but again, that’s a different discussion). It was as if Black men and Black women were two different races or two different groups. One thing I know is if any group needs strong families it’s the Black community. If there is separation between Black men and Black women we can’t have that, so it really rubbed me the wrong way to hear these networks talk about Black men and Black women as if they were not part of the same group.

So, after everything I mentioned, I thought about it. I never really agreed with the general Democrat stances on major issues such as abortion, immigration, and gender ideology in schools. On top of that, I was beginning to see how they took the Black vote for granted, ignored Black men, and also supported things that were detrimental to the Black community while still telling us that Black lives matter (I still don’t understand how you can say “Black Lives Matter” and support the abortion industry which aborts Black Lives at a genocidal rate, but again, that’s a different discussion). Eventually, I said to myself, “Why am I still here?”

Now, we have another presidential election coming up and to be honest, I will strongly consider voting for the Republican candidate whether it be Trump or someone else. At this point, the only other candidate that I’m interested in is RFK Jr. Although I thought it was condescending when Trump said “What have you got to lose?” when speaking about the Black community possibly voting for him, to be honest, at this point I feel the same way. We’ve been voting for Democrats for over 50 years now and we’re still dealing with some of the same problems; not that I really expect any politician to solve the problems in our community, but trying a different path is worth a shot.

Where am I now?

Where am I now? Good question. I know that I am not a Democrat anymore (even though I need to get that changed officially) but I can’t really say that I’m officially a Republican (even though I did go to CPAC in D.C. this year). Right now, I’m just a man that believes in what he believes in and I am willing to support candidates that support my values no matter what party they are affiliated with (although I tend to lean more conservative on most things). I’m just no longer willing to just hand Democrats my vote just because they are Democrat or just because I’m Black and that is what I am supposed to do. If I do vote for a Democrat it will have to be because they really have presented me with plans and policies that I can get behind instead of simply telling me what I want to hear.

Conclusion

In conclusion, what I’m saying is that I don’t feel attached to either party. Neither party is all good or all bad. I’m also not telling all Black people to switch over to Republican or to never vote Democrat. What I’m saying is that Black people as well as people in general shouldn’t vote based on emotion, party, or simply because of what they think they are “supposed” to do. Vote your interests. Be informed. If you’re going to vote for someone, MAKE ’EM EARN IT!