A s Biden took his official oath during the presidential inauguration alongside Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, 2021, he and Black voters across the country were aware of their pivotal factor in the two leaders winning the election. This was reflected during the voting period in cities with large populations of Black voters. Preliminary national exit polls showed about 87% of Black voters favored Biden over Trump. Those numbers were specifically divided between the votes of 19% of all Black men and 9% of all Black women in America. Exit poll data also show that Black Americans represented more than 50% of all Democratic voters in Geor- gia. Large numbers were also reflected in states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. In February 2020, Rep. James Clyburn, the House majority whip and highest-ranking African American in Congress, endorsed Biden three days before the South Carolina primary. Many Demo- cratic voters living in the southeastern state said Clyburn’s endorsement was a swaying factor in their decision to vote for Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. Last year, the number of votes Black Americans accounted for was more than triple what they were only a few decades ago. While the influence of the Black vote held a significant role, its power was overtly apparent in the 2016 campaign that followed the 2008 election garnering 13% of Black votes, 95% of which were for Barack Obama. It’s why Donald Trump focused so much of his campaign on winning the vote of Black Americans during his 2016 campaign. “What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump? I will produce for the inner cities. I will produce for the African Americans,” he said. Trump’s effort to appeal to African Americans portrayed the growing dynamic of catering to Black voters that had been growing since much earlier years in history. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm launched what was a historic campaign and became the first African American to run for a Democratic presidential nom- ination. She’d become the first Black U.S. Congress- woman and was a co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus. Under her slogan “Unbought and Un- bossed,” Chisholm wanted her campaign to be an in- augural avenue for other Black Americans to run for the presidency. She strived to change the narrative that only white men could run for or hold the coun- try’s executive position. and her campaign picked up record numbers of votes from Black women.
In 1976, on the day before the New Hampshire primary, presidential candidates Sargent Shriver, Morris Udall, Jimmy Carter, Henry Jackson, Fred Harris and Milton Shapp were the Democratic names on the ticket. This election was like the oth- ers during its time, as all-white spreads of candidates were typical. The Voting Rights Act was just 10 years old at the time, and Black voters would only make up 10% of the voting population. In 1984, however, the leader of Operation PUSH, Rev. Jesse Jackson, became the second African American to run for president. His campaign en- couraged extensive voter registration among African Americans. Black voters in New Jersey, for example, represented 20% of the June Democratic primary electorate. This was nearly triple the percentage these votes accounted for in 1980. On Super Tues- day, Jackson received 21% of votes in Georgia, a state known for its large Black population. His campaign expanded the role of Black voters in U.S. elections. Forty years later, by the time campaigns began for the 2020 election, much had changed, and Black voter registration was steadily on the rise as the U.S. displayed one of its most diverse list of candidates. There were four Black major Democratic candidates, including Wayne Messam of Florida, Cory Book- er of New Jersey, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California. A much wider spread of representation on the Democratic ticket brought higher percentages of Black voters to the polls. These numbers were exponentially higher and incomparable to the 1976 election and several others of its time. Since 1992, no candidate has won the Democratic nomination without receiving a majority of the black vote. As a minority group, the growing influence of the votes of Black Americans will often be respon- sible for bringing historical change to the United States. Last year, the number of votes Black Americans accounted for was more than triple what they were only a few decades ago.
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