Political circles are abuzz with polling indicating President Joe Biden’s sizable erosion of Black support.
Recent Sienna/New York Times polling in five key battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania — has set off alarm bells for the left.
Not only is President Biden trailing President Trump overall by four to 10 percentage points, but support among Black and Hispanic voters is fraying for the current president.
Black voters are now registering 22% support in these states for Trump, well above the 8% he garnered in 2020 and far above levels for any Republican in presidential politics in modern times.
CNN polling finds that 23% of Black voters favor Trump while Fox News polling places their support at 26%.
Mark Fisher ruffled feathers recently by endorsing former President Trump for president in 2024. The BLM Rhode Island activist did not mince words.
He thinks that President Trump would better serve the Black community than President Biden. His views are not fringe but indicative of the eroding support for Democrats among Black voters.
The presidential election is a smaller part of a bigger issue.
Added to rising support among Hispanic voters, we now see what the New York Times calls "a remarkable sign of a gradual racial realignment between the two parties."
Minimizing Blacks to just their votes for an election misses the long-term opportunity at hand. Free-enterprise advocates and liberty lovers have a chance to beat back the left’s Marxist and socialist strain that has for too long had a hold over many minorities.
Blacks are fed the line that capitalism is exploitative and government power is the way to achieve equal outcomes for all.
Conservatives have an opportunity to offer something new and better: ours is a vision that respects the individual for being an individual, values disciplines and personal decision-making regardless of the outcome, and demands that justice be fair for all, not for the connected few.
Here is how the Right can welcome disengaged Blacks to the conservative movement.
First, let’s not focus on one election. Policy agendas will shift depending on who is in office, but we may come across as inauthentic and simply out for votes by pushing for one candidate.
Instead, we can frame the differences between the Right and Left in terms of issues.
Does your paycheck go farther now or before?
Are your kids getting the best education or are they limited by their zip code?
Should you have the choice to work for yourself and on your own schedule or must you work for a company in a 9-to-5 job?
Next, we can add context to what people are experiencing.
For example, is inflation really cooling down?
Is the economy really strong? In answering direct questions, let’s avoid being disingenuous by ignoring the positives and only focusing on the negatives.
The unemployment rate for Black workers indeed touched a record-low 4.7% in April, but real wages barely outpace inflation.
Wage gains for Black workers have cooled more dramatically than for other demographics.
As the New York Federal Reserve analysis revealed, the inflation rate is more devastating to Black households than other demographic groups or even the national average.
This is likely because Blacks spend a greater share of their income on items facing high price increases such as rent and transportation.
So, if you don’t feel that prices are getting better, it’s because they aren’t.
The inflation rate has slightly dropped, but prices are still elevated above 2021 and 2022 levels. In 2021, excessive federal spending along with supply chain issues drove inflation up.
World issues came along in 2022 and fueled already rising inflation. That is as real today as it was last year.
Finally, we can offer solutions that improve outcomes for Blacks now and in the future.
The idea of earning more and keeping more of what you earn peaks the ears of entrepreneurs and small business owners crushed by inflation, taxes, and regulation.
Blacks are not monolithic economically, and those in the rising middle and upper classes may be looking for more than stimulus checks and government benefits.
Cutting taxes for small businesses and extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act adds relief. We can correct the talking point that these tax cuts only benefited the wealthy by pointing out the $1,500 average household tax cut, doubling of the child tax credit, new non-child dependent credit, and other benefits for households.
Congress should also stop trying to shake down households through tax-raising schemes like the onerous $600 tax reporting requirement on Venmo transactions and online resale of items. The left penalizes people for trying to make ends meet or build financial security, not the right.
Also, reducing the regulatory burdens that make it difficult to start businesses or practice occupations and trades, from barbering and hair braiding to nursing, is appealing to skilled immigrants anxious to work or those with criminal records who struggle to find employment.
Additonally, conservatives should herald school choice as a solution to failing public schools and failing public school systems.
School choice programs give Black families options for their kids’ education.
Elite left-adherents try to deny school choice for Black children, but send their own kids to private schools because they can afford to.
The left also undermines merit and academic excellence by lowering standards and eliminating programming for gifted students in the name of equity.
A note of caution: In making the case for conservative politics we must have patience and humility. The left won over Blacks over time, and it will take time to move the needle.
For Blacks and minorities, the door is open for a new message and agenda.
This is where the work of grassroots and advocacy organizations begins.
Let's go.
Patrice Lee Onwuka is a political commentator and director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is also an adjunct senior fellow with the Philanthropy Roundtable and a Tony Blankley Fellow at The Steamboat Institute. Follow her on Twitter: @PatricePinkFile Read Patrice Lee Onwuka's Reports — More Here.