Black voters energized to cast ballots in the Buckeye State
A record number of African Americans are expected to cast ballots in Tuesday's election. Many are motivated by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The African American Research Collaborative surveyed more than 1,000 Black Americans this year. Of those surveyed, 73 percent of the registered voters said they will be voting for Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden.
"So, it is certainly true that the majority of African American voters in Ohio, and across the country, are going to vote for the Democratic ticket," said Henry Fernandez, CEO and principal of the African American Research Collaborative.
Of the registered voters polled in the study, 62 percent said they "will definitely vote." Many are concerned about one thing in particular.
"So the number one issue in all of our polling is concerns about racial injustice and racial discrimination against African Americans," said Fernandez.
This is something Buckeye Review Publisher Dr. Mike McNair agrees with.
"We love the law and the order -- but if the law and order is used against us, if I call the police and a white person is attacking me and they show up -- they will look at me first and say, oh, he must be the problem. It's happened many times."
McNair believes the conservatives in the Valley and throughout the nation work against Black people.
"There is a consistent push back from conservatives against equal rights. That is troubling. And the only way we can push back against that push back is with our vote"
On the other hand, Tracey Winbush is the president of the Ohio Black Republicans Association and will be voting for President Trump. Winbush said African Americans don't vote as a block.
"African Americans, Blacks, are feeling the same thing as America," said Winbush. "We are not monolithic. There is a massive cross-section, and African Americans are such a great melting pot of cultures."
Before the pandemic, Winbush said there was a low Black unemployment rate. She says the president's First Step Act -- which reforms federal prisons and sentencing laws -- has helped the Black community. All actions she says to move forward.
"Joe Biden wants to live in the 20th century, and he wants to keep us where we were," said Winbush. "Donald Trump wants to take us into the 21st century and take us to where we can go. That's the best way I can put it."
But it's more than policy and initiatives this election when it comes to Trump or Biden.
"I think character is on the ballot this November," said Derrick Clay, the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation Chair. "I think decency is on the ballot this November, and I think racial equity is on the ballot as well."
He said he is confident that Black voters will overwhelmingly support the Biden-Harris ticket, which could be the tipping point in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
