ATLANTA– Black voters expressed a mix of hope and concern on Monday over Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race and the prospect of Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee.
Black voters, a key Democratic constituency, helped Biden win the 2020 primaries and ultimately the White House. among his most steadfast supporterseven as calls for his resignation grew. But as proud as some black Americans are of Harris’s opportunity, who is of black and Indian descentbecome president, the turn in the race is making some voters anxious.
“I felt like we were doomed,” said Brianna Smith, a 24-year-old school counselor from Decatur, Georgia, who recounted her experiences response to Biden’s announcement“I don’t really see America accepting a black woman running for president.”
Biden’s endorsement of Harris and the immediate coalescence of other party leaders around her make her the clear favorite to replace him at the top of the presidential ticket. But in interviews in Atlanta, where voters helped flip Georgia for the Democrats four years ago, some black voters were nervous.
“People really don’t like women, especially black women,” said Mary Jameson, 46. “If a white woman can’t win, how can a black woman win?”
Carrington Jackson, a 23-year-old chiropractic student from Marietta, Georgia, said she immediately felt anxious when Biden dropped out. While she believes Harris is a great candidate, she worries that she will have to deal not only with the popularity of the GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump, but also with the prejudices of the American public.
“Being a black woman, I understand that she’s at the intersection of sexism and racism,” Jackson said. “I think that’s going to be a whole other fight now, in addition to competing with Donald Trump supporters.”
A poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of Biden’s announcement on Sunday found About 6 in 10 Democrats believe Harris would do well as presidentMore broadly, the poll found that there is skepticism about Harris among adults, with just 3 in 10 Americans saying she would do a good job as president.
But blacks were more likely to see Harris positively.
Many Democrats followed Biden’s lead in expressing their support for Harris, with the Congressional Black Caucus saying it “fully supports” the vice president.
And some black voters, upset by what they saw as Biden’s diminishing chances of winning in November, said they would support whoever could best compete with Trump.
“If they can articulate the policies of the Democratic Party better than Biden, then I would be happy to hire that person,” said Pierre Varlet, 30, an anti-money laundering specialist in Atlanta.