It’s no secret that Black Americans, particularly Black women, helped President Joe Biden secure a seat in the Oval Office nearly four years ago.
This year started out differently.
More young Black men in America’s swing states say they plan to back Republican nominee Donald Trump. And Black voters – especially young Black voters – may have power in the election based on how they don’t vote.
Yet, not voting can be viewed as a profound statement of apathy for Black Americans, given our painful and difficult history securing a safe and legal right to vote.
I grew up in a household where I was taught it was imperative to vote – always. After all, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted only seven years before I was firmly born a member of Generation X. My mother and aunt, from the deep South who migrated to the Midwest, remembered not having the right to vote. They remembered people who died for helping register Black voters.
But this year, polls showed a trend that would have made my mother and aunt shudder. More Black Americans are uncertain whether they’ll vote in the upcoming 2024 presidential election compared to 2020.
A few months ago, it was easy for some of them to point to a reason. I heard from lots of young voters who didn’t like their choices: Two very old, very white men who didn’t seem to hear a lot of what those voters were trying to say.
Enter Vice President Kamala Harris. Seeing a Black woman as the Democratic presidential nominee has certainly ignited an energy within voters I’ve interviewed. It’s an enthusiasm these people say they didn’t feel two months ago.
But as the ticket changed, the political conventions swirled and Election Day drew closer, I kept talking to voters.
They talked to me about this electoral conundrum and whether sitting it out can even be considered.
Most tell me it can’t, at least the older Americans. With the exception of 2012, when President Barack Obama was seeking his second term, Black voter turnout has been historically lower than white turnout, and could be lower again this year.
At the same time, Black voters’ power may never have been greater. Since 2012, the share of Black eligible voters has risen in most key states. Georgia saw the largest increase, with a 4 percentage point rise in the Black electorate. All the other swing states, except Michigan, also saw a rise, according to U.S. Census surveys.
I interviewed a cross section of Black voters in the seven battleground states to understand whether they plan to vote and why. I selected two people from each state. The goal was to hear the conversations that happen across generations. The conversations that happen over lunch with coworkers, after church, in barbershops, at family dinners and even across social media. Some people are disgruntled; some are delighted.
It remains a moral duty for my family to go to the polls. It’s our right as Americans and, at least for me, a lifelong obligation to acknowledge how my Black ancestors fought for that right.
As I talked to swing-state voters, I wanted to understand the importance of what the Civil Rights Movement, and the right to vote, meant to them. But it was also important to hear about what issues they did care about – in their own voices.
ARIZONA
A moral compass that aligns with Trump
Derrick Hall Jr.
- Age: 38 (Millennial)
- Lives in: Tempe, Arizona
- Profession: Costco employee
Derrick Hall Jr. is a military brat; his father was in the Air Force. He was born in Japan. He grew up in Mississippi, California, Texas, Guam. Now he lives in Arizona. He’s an aspiring rapper who spends his free time going to open mic nights.
Hall is a Black man who says he’s never experienced blatant racism nor felt oppressed because of the color of his skin.
“I grew up around a lot of different cultures and backgrounds, and people from different ethnicities,” he said. “It allowed me just to adapt and be able to relate to people from all kinds of backgrounds. I’m thankful for it.”
He’s worked in retail – at Costco – since age 19. Hall grew up in the church and is deeply religious. His parents raised him to uphold conservative family values. He sees abortion as a sin.
Hall says he’s undecided in this presidential election. He’s not affiliated with either party. He doesn’t vote for candidates, but for issues that he cares about. But he acknowledges his ideologies align more with Republicans.
“I grew up in the church and there are still a lot of godly principles in me,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge Donald Trump supporter. It’s not like I’m going to be in the front row with a MAGA hat on. But there are some important issues that I really hold dear, such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
“I want to have kids one day,” Hall said. “And I believe that the original family is a man and a woman. I don’t believe in seeing two women as a family raise somebody or two men. It’s not the original family plan. I’m not a huge political person, nor do I belong to a certain political party, but if it comes down to those things, and it comes down to my vote, those are things I really cherish. And if a lot of people in one party agrees with me, then that’s the party that I want to go with.”
Still, he finds Harris to be charismatic, approachable.
“Right now, to be honest with you, ultimately I don’t think my life is going to drastically change,” he said. “I don’t put my hope in things or people.”
An undecided voter wants what’s best for America
Michael Hastert
- Age: 33 (Millennial)
- Lives in: Chandler, Arizona
- Profession: Costco gas station employee
Michael Hastert, an Arizona State University graduate, will quickly tell you that he appreciates Republicans who advocate for gun rights for Americans. But he doesn’t subscribe to one political party.
“I agree with a little bit more right than left, but I’m pretty dead center,” said Hastert, who was born in Chicago. He was raised primarily by a single mother and his grandparents. His brother died in a motorcycle accident in 2014. The loss made him start looking at politics in a different way, because they dreamed together of generational wealth, maybe owning a house together.
Now, he’s worried about his own wallet.
“When President Obama was in office, I felt like things were pretty affordable and moving in the right direction. I feel like when President Trump was in office, he accelerated the economy. And then came Biden and I don’t know what happened. Everything went up in price. I did have a lot more money when Trump was in office, not that I necessarily support Trump. But I did have a little bit more extra to do what I wanted to do, whether that’s vacation or anything else. Right now, I’m living tight.”
The last two elections have been difficult for him because he can relate to both sides. He sees the importance of boosting public education and affordable public transportation, something he sees as Democratic priorities. But he supports Trump’s economic policies. There seemed to be chaos under the Biden administration and a lack of clear solutions, he says, though the current administration did a good job of managing the country through COVID-19.
He will definitely vote, but says his decision will be tough.
“I’m not against Kamala at all,” he said. “But I know I’m going to get lied to by all of them. So I want to make my own choice for who will give me the best option for the future. If you really look at it, both candidates are qualified. Kamala has a chance to sway me. But I think I’m like 60-40 or 55-45 going toward Trump. I just think that he wants what’s best for America. And I think that’s what Americans want right now, is what’s best for America.”
GEORGIA
Feeling generation’s burdens, but a promise to rebuild
Jordan Brown
- Age: 30 (Millennial)
- Lives in: Atlanta, Georgia
- Profession: Georgia state advisor, Movement Voter Project
Jordan Brown’s brother, Marlon Brown was killed in 2013 by a DeLand, Florida police officer who ran him down with his patrol car.
Marlon Brown was pulled over because he allegedly wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Her brother hit a dead end street, bailed from the car and started to run.
“Some people say, ‘Oh, well he shouldn’t have run. He shouldn’t have run,’” Brown said. “But he’s a Black man in Florida.’”
Marlon Brown was pinned under the patrol car. The coroner’s report said he died of suffocation. It took years for Jordan Brown to watch the dashcam footage. She still cries about it.
Black men are often afraid of such police interactions. They often run because of a fear of being killed. Sometimes they are. Jordan Brown knows this even as a daughter of a retired Atlanta Police Department officer.
Brown was 19 and a student at Georgia State University. She planned to become an industrial psychologist. But after her brother died, she knew she had to do more to address America’s injustices. After graduation, she worked in the philanthropic world. She wanted to raise money to affect policy.
But there was a disconnect. She wasn’t reaching those who needed to hear about the power and importance of elections, even local ones. So she started volunteering for local campaigns, educating voters on important issues. It was her way to serve her country and her people.
“When I think about this election, I think about those who are closest to me,” she said. “Particularly my two nieces, who are 22 and almost 16. I tell them all the time, if they aren’t willing to participate politically, they don’t care about anything. I tell them that we determine our destiny, at the polls and beyond.”
Brown said the most pressing issue in Georgia is affordable housing. There are millions of Americans who want to buy a house and build generational wealth. Sometimes it seems impossible. They struggle just to pay rent and survive.
When she talks to millennials, they often bring up student loans and related debt. They see no way out and no reasonable plan to help. When she talks to older folks, they gripe about healthcare and medication and health insurance affordability. Then there are those in the middle, those who want to start a family but keep putting it on hold because of the costs. Women also care deeply about reproductive rights and efforts to dismantle them, Brown said.
“The state of this country is in a bad place for many. But I think young Americans are showing through protests and activism that they’re in the game to rebuild,” she said. “Our next president will be vital in that rebuilding, but we also understand that it will fall on us to root out these old structures and systems. It’s an invigorating hope for change.”
When the Number One issue is apathy
Deborah Neal
- Age: 64 (Baby Boomer)
- Lives in: Decatur, Georgia
- Profession: Retired teacher
Deborah Neal is a sorority sister to Kamala Harris. She went to the University of Tennessee at Martin. The vice president went to Howard University.
Neal has been canvassing for her, going to malls and other public spaces to ensure people are registered to vote. It’s her way to show support for the person who might become America’s first Black woman president.
She acknowledges that Alpha Kappa Alpha is a nonpartisan organization. These sisters can’t speak on behalf of the sorority, but they can individually volunteer. They can promote voter registration. That might mean trying to get those young cousins and even older uncles who have never voted to go to the polls.
“I think most people were supporting President Biden, but they saw in him not the strongest candidate,” Neal said. “We love him. We kind of saw our grandpop. You’ve got to take the keys from him, and we had to have that hard conversation. But when he finally admitted it, we were glad. It was hurtful to tell Joe to go, but there was a sigh of relief. Now we’re energized and we have a candidate we can get behind.”
It’s clear who Neal wants to win. But more than anything, she just wants people to vote. She believes in democracy. That is her No. 1 issue in this election. As a recently retired schoolteacher, she’s concerned about the apathy among some young people.
If still in the classroom, she would be preaching about civility. Vote how you want, she says, but be kind.
“It is hard just listening to some of the ugly things that Trump and his supporters have put out about VP Harris. But we know that it’s not true. And we know Trump is just really an embarrassment. So when I hear those things, I just tell people: ‘Don’t even listen to it. Don’t listen to it because it’s just ugly.’ He’s making himself look bad. But it does bother me. It bothers me that they put out these lies and negative things about her.”
MICHIGAN
A grandfather ponders how men see the future
A. Nzere Kwabena
- Age: 59 (Generation X)
- Lives in: Detroit
- Profession: Executive director of LGBT Detroit
A. Nzere Kwabena is a grandfather to three baby girls – twins born in August and one who is 5-months old. They are his world. If he could dream big, he would erase misogyny and racism for them.
But during this election, he’s fearful even more will crop up, especially because Harris is a Black woman.
“I’m concerned that misogyny will be at an all-time high,” he said. “I believe that we will see women harmed more. We will see men, particularly those who are not centered, be disruptive. And I believe that racism, particularly white male racism, will increase. I believe those things will happen. Though I believe that she’s the right person for the right job, I don’t believe that this nation will understand it because we’re more sexist than we are racist.”
Still, in Harris he sees hope. Kwabena predicts the election is going to be “very tight,” particularly in Michigan. The state has a large Middle Eastern population, and many voters, especially young ones, have been displeased with the Biden/Harris administration’s handling of the ongoing conflict.
“Particularly if you are younger, many of them wanted Harris to take a stand,” he said. “That means one way or the other. And because she’s in the middle, you’re going to have a number of people who will more than likely sit out the vote. I believe she has to talk to Michigan residents who are sympathetic to the Middle Eastern conflict.”
A front-row seat to the past, a bird’s-eye view of the future
Brian Smith
- Age: 67 (Baby Boomer)
- Lives in: Detroit
- Profession: Professor
When Detroiter Brian Smith isn’t teaching biology, chemistry, math and physics at Wayne County Community College, he spends his time teaching teens to fly.
Literally.
Smith runs the Tuskegee Airmen Flight Academy and is president of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum. The academy trains high school students to become pilots, air traffic controllers and other aviation careers.
He owns a plane and often teaches with his own aircraft.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the members of the American military’s first all Black fighter pilot squadron, escorting bombers during World War II. The first aviation cadet class began in July 1941 and completed training nine months later in March 1942, according to the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum. From 1941-46, about 1,000 Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Smith works to keep this history alive by offering aviation education – and the potential of lucrative careers – for Black kids in particular.
It’s the kind of legacy he wants for his country, too. For him, a man who has always voted Democrat, this presidential election is crucial.
“I’m going for the people who are going to look out for the poor folks,” Smith said.
Those people? Initially Biden, now Harris.
“I was going to vote for Biden, no matter what,” Smith said. “There are so many things I don’t like about Trump. What I see with another Trump presidency is almost slavery coming back, that’s the way it will feel, because there will be no restraint on white supremacist groups. They’ll feel like they can do whatever they want and the judges that Trump has put in place will get them off, much like they did in the ’50s and ’60s. They’d kill a Black person and they would be acquitted.”
Smith knows this firsthand the history of racial unrest. He grew up on the campus of Oakwood University, a historically Black university in Huntsville, Alabama, where his father taught. He had a front row seat for the Civil Rights Movement. He learned what it meant to stand for something.
Now he wants to encourage his students, both the young aspiring pilots and those in community college, to stand up, too. It starts with education, in his view. But he’s worried that they are too wrapped up in just trying to navigate life. They are concerned about the cost of college, what student loan debt can mean. He said he tries to stay impartial, but also teaches them what policies may help or hurt them – like student loan forgiveness.
“They’re at least listening,” Smith said.
NEVADA
As a new citizen, finding a voice and a vote
Leonor Paulo
- Age: 25 (Generation Z)
- Lives in: Las Vegas
- Profession: Singer/songwriter/model
Leonor Paulo was born in Angola. She immigrated to the United States at age 4. Her family was escaping war. They first found safety in Portugal – Paulo was a baby and Portuguese was her first language because Angola was colonized by Portugal – before finding their way to Las Vegas.
She was raised by a single mother; her father died the same year her family came to America. But she’s grateful to be raised with African values. Two of her cousins, who were considered brothers, came to the states with them. Her mother raised them as her own. Because that’s what Black families often do.
“It’s definitely because of the opportunity of my mom wanting us to have a better life for ourselves,” Paulo said.
Paulo is enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She started singing when she was 6. Now she’s taking online classes, learning to write music and develop her voice. But she works as a health insurance agent to support herself as she makes dreams a reality. She performs at Vegas clubs. Weddings. Lounges. Family reunions. Restaurants.
This presidential election is the first time she will vote. She became a citizen in 2019, but didn’t feel aware enough to vote in the 2020 election.
So she spent time learning about America’s government system. She became involved with the National Action Network to educate herself.
“I definitely feel like politics and voting is intimidating because I’m from Angola, so I didn’t have my parents or my family really teaching me this is why it’s important to vote, this is what this candidate stands for,” she said. “When you vote, you’re putting people in place to help make laws and regulations for you.”
“I support Kamala because of her stance on reproductive rights, because of her stance on immigration reform. As an immigrant, that’s really important to me. Also, I’ve heard her speak about her vision about having an opportunity economy.”
When a small business houses a big dream
La’rell Wysinger
- Age: 17 (Generation Z)
- Lives in: Las Vegas
- Profession: High school senior/food truck owner
La’rell Wysinger has pre-registered to vote at age 17. Though he won’t be eligible this November, he’s excited to cast a ballot in a future election. He wants to learn more about policy before he can enter the booth. It’s refreshing, someone so young who has already identified the importance of civic engagement.
Wysinger wants to vote because as a small business owner – yes, he owns a business at age 17 – he wants to ensure he gets the government support for his side hustle while he pursues his ultimate dream: culinary school.
His food truck is called “Chily Barkers.” His menu, “Big Backs,” is creative. It includes “The Fat Boy,” a hot dog topped with mac & cheese, baked beans, BBQ sauce and ketchup. “Love Handles” offers cornbread stacked with cabbage, mac & cheese, chicken and BBQ sauce.
“It’s important to me to do this, especially as a youth,” he said. “It’s important for our future, this youth, this generation. We are the future and it’s important for our voice to be heard, especially with the economy.”
Wysinger’s mother and stepfather helped him acquire a trailer-turned-food truck and the necessary permits. He had a vision: serving neighborhoods and schools. As a high school senior, he has free days and pulls up to feed people.
Cooking has always been his passion. He’s now learning how entrepreneurship works.
And politics. He wants to be educated when his time comes to vote.
Wysinger is aware most of his friends are only interested in girls, sports, and applying to college. But he’s been paying close attention to debates and reading about the candidates. He doesn’t see Donald Trump as the financial guru others perceive. He thinks Harris will help protect the small but mighty – people like him.
“A lot of small businesses, some states frown upon them because they take away from the larger corporations or larger businesses,” he said. “So we’re kind of viewed as the cockroaches in some aspects. And I want a president who supports that. I want a president who supports small businesses and understands the struggle of a low income family trying to make ends meet.”
NORTH CAROLINA
When medical issues leave Black women at the greatest risk
Brunetta Gaither
- Age: 65 (Baby Boomer)
- Lives in: Charlotte, North Carolina
- Profession: Retired shipping and technology expediting clerk
Brunetta Gaither can’t get over the million-plus Americans who died from COVID. She can’t get over the fact that she lost family members to the global pandemic. And she believes at the height of it, things were mismanaged by then-President Donald Trump.
“I cannot stomach another four years of Trump – I cannot do that,” she said. “He’s a selfish person who only cares about himself. People died because he didn’t know what he was doing. And now he just wants to keep himself out of jail.”
Gaither, who worked in shipping and tech before retirement, is college educated and solidly middle class. She made decent money professionally. But she’s worried about the cost of living for her fellow Americans. Groceries. Rent. She is quick to acknowledge the president doesn’t dictate inflation. The price of gas. The price of groceries. But because of her former work, she knows how tariffs work. She says Harris has a better economic plan for average Americans.
“I like my voice to be known,” she said. “I’ve never missed voting, either local or national.”
For her, this election is about reproductive rights. It’s also about the economy and joblessness. But she’s quite concerned about women of child-bearing age, those who might otherwise die if they can’t get the medical care they need. Especially Black women.
“I have a daughter, I have nieces – they’re all in the birthing age right now. And I have nephews. I say that because many men feel the same way about reproductive rights that women do. I feel sorry for the younger generation, what they will have to go through. It’s going to take us all to fight for them. Because if you get pregnant and you have a miscarriage, they expect us to stay out in the parking lot and bleed out. And Black women are the main ones dying.”
A young voter learns, discovers her own views
Kayla Young
- Age: 23 (Generation Z)
- Lives in: Monroe, North Carolina
- Profession: Aspiring medical student
Kayla Young is a graduate of Howard University, just like Kamala Harris. She works in a doctor’s office by day and applies to medical school by night. Her goal is to be enrolled somewhere by next fall, possibly to study neurology. Her mother is a stroke survivor; she loves the idea of treating people with brain trauma.
Young recently purchased a home with her mother. She knew she couldn’t do it alone. She’s grateful to have familial support, and wonders what will become of her peers who may not have the same. The country’s economic future keeps her up at night, as does its healthcare system.
“I feel like most young people kind of naturally take the same ideology as your parents or family members,” Young said. “So growing up, I was used to seeing my family voting with the Democratic Party. It was what we did. It was never really a question.”
But as Young has grown, she’s developed her own views and ideologies. She challenged herself to learn more, to read more, to educate herself on today’s issues. She found her views still aligned with Democrats, particularly on healthcare.
“I never wanted to be the person that says, ‘Oh, I’m just voting this way, just because this is how everyone else has voted in the past.’ So once you pull from resources to really understand the policies and the stances of the political parties it makes more sense. I’ve been able to grow into it on my own and place my own beliefs with the Democratic Party. So, I think that’s where I am right now, especially in this election.”
As for campaign season, Young is over the personal attacks. The rhetoric. The lies.
“I feel like just the climate around politics has turned into something so nasty,” she said, “It almost feels like we’re not playing fair anymore. I just feel like sometimes it’s turned into a complete clown show. And to be transparent with you, I think that is because of one person.”
That person is Donald Trump, she said.
PENNSYLVANIA
Tired of the expectations of ‘identity politics’
Louis Berry
- Age: 65 (Baby Boomer)
- Lives in: Rankin, Pennsylvania
- Profession: Retired custodial worker
Louis Berry knocked on doors for Barack Obama in 2008. He worked to educate voters about Obama’s policies and the hope for a better future. He voted for Obama that year.
And he never voted in a presidential election again.
Come November, Berry will do the same – stay home. He votes in local elections, but not presidential ones anymore. He says he’s tired of Democrats assuming Black people will vote for them based on history.
“If I had to vote today, I’d be voting for Donald Trump. I’m not doing identity politics anymore. All Kamala is doing is raising money and making speeches. When the race was Biden against Trump, the only thing Biden was going to do was get crushed. Kamala has a better shot. I like Trump’s policies better, especially around immigration. They are trying to replace us. I’m a strong, independent Black man. I think freely. I’m sending a message to the Dems, stop taking us for granted. I’m not the only one who feels this way. We Black men talk about this all the time. That’s why I say if I had to vote today, I would vote for Trump. But I don’t have to vote, so I’m not.”
Berry worked for more than 20 years at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, the state’s largest health system. He fought to create a union that would protect workers like him, those in housekeeping, custodial work and maintenance. He wasn’t successful, but his voice was loud.
That’s how Berry rolls, using his voice – or choosing not to – to get attention.
Berry wants Black Americans to receive reparations to address the historical and financial effects of slavery. He has watched as Democrats did what he describes as kicking the can down the road – all while Black constituents have suffered financially.
He says his stance will help future generations. His ancestors fought for voting rights and integration. Now he’s fighting for reparations. He looks at it as a punishment for promises unmet. Democrats don’t listen to Black Americans, he said. So he’s sending a message he hopes they will receive.
When economic worries seem misplaced
Todd Hollis
- Age: 56 (Generation X)
- Lives in: Pittsburgh
- Profession: Civil rights attorney
Todd Hollis is a single father raising two children. Ask him about his main concerns in this year’s presidential election and he’ll quickly offer a list: Civil rights, healthcare, women’s rights.
But he goes deeper. He describes the fear of a potential autocracy under Donald Trump. He worries about a lack of ethics. He’s concerned this election could be rife with schemes and tampering. Ultimately, people have to go to the polls, he said. It’s our duty.
“It’s really easy to take freedom for granted when you didn’t have to fight for it,” he said. “You weren’t the ones who had to bleed and sacrifice for those freedoms.”
Hollis had confidence in Biden, and now Harris. He doesn’t see either person trying to enrich themselves by holding office. He says he can’t say the same for Trump. And as Americans suffer from increased prices, he’s upset that some view Trump as a financial wizard.
“They feel Trump is the better candidate because he represents lower expenses. When you try to explain to them that the president has very little control over gas prices, you can very quickly tell they are uneducated and they don’t know,” he said.
“But Donald Trump represents everything I never want to see in another human being,” he said. “And my sense of ethics will never allow me to accept him.”
WISCONSIN
When political engagement is the best solution
Lisa Blalock
- Age: 51 (Generation X)
- Lives in: Milwaukee
- Profession: Corporate trainer
Lisa Blalock works as a corporate trainer but pours herself into her church, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, in her free time. She teaches Sunday school. She organizes food pantries and voter registration drives. And during the pandemic, she got a master’s degree.
It’s all because she has a desire to improve herself and give back to the community that raised her. She roamed for a while: Ohio, California, Illinois. But she always felt the pull back home. She was homesick. Her family was in Wisconsin.
“I’m still trying to fight the good fight as much as possible,” she said. “I know that even though the younger people are not attending church like they once did, they need to hear that their parents are understanding what’s going on in their lives.”
One aspect of her counsel: remain politically active. In Milwaukee, Blalock sees a lack of funding for public schools. It’s a state issue, yes, but she believes federal support could boost test scores and the futures for Black students. She sees a lack of employment for Black people. Like other Rust Belt cities, when the factories closed in Milwaukee, the well-paying jobs disappeared.
“So there is a level of crime and poverty here that is probably worse here for Black people than it is in most cities,” she said. “But I really do hope that with some of the things that Kamala Harris is suggesting, if she gets elected, I hope that some of this turns around.”
When it’s easy to persuade people not to vote
Selika Ducksworth-Lawton
- Age: 58 (Generation X)
- Lives in: Eau Claire
- Profession: Professor
Selika Ducksworth-Lawton lives 90 miles from Minneapolis. She’s feeling the energy about Gov. Tim Walz being the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Her students are, too.
It’s full circle for her, a woman who has a 24-year-old and 17-year-old in the house. Not only does she teach history at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, but she teaches her children the meaningfulness of their civic responsibility.
“My parents are from the Civil Rights generation,” she said. “You vote. You always vote. This stuff is our birthright.”
Many of Ducksworth-Lawton’s students are biracial. She said she feels their connection to Harris, who is Indian and Black. They found Biden to be too conservative and didn’t speak to their concerns, but Harris seems more relatable to them, she said. They finally feel like Democrats are listening to them, the young, the diverse.
“The Democrats don’t always follow through on their promises,” she said.
Ducksworth-Lawton reads. A lot. She read every word in the Project 2025 document tied to Trump. As someone who lives in a red county, she wants to be informed about conservative values and plans.
“I think letting people with that kind of hubris control the executive branch and control the Supreme Court will remove our rights, but also destroy this economy,” she said. “People with high school diplomas who are out there trying to survive, who feel that nobody looks out for them, can easily be persuaded not necessarily to vote for Trump, but to just not vote.”
Suzette Hackney is a national columnist. Reach her on X:@suzyscribe. Suhail Bhat contributed to this report.