Robert Lindsey, the owner of Sharp Skills Barber Shop, thinks his customers have some questions for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Even with this whole election right now, brothers ain’t really behind Kamala because of her track record, you know? She was a prosecutor, and that was her job, and a lot of guys are sensitive about that,” Lindsey said, not long after the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation had used his barbershop as the home base to canvass the majority-Black Overbrook neighborhood in West Philadelphia. “I would love for her to answer some questions straight up.”
Lindsey and his customers are getting a chance to hear Harris answer a lot of questions this week. Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, is conducting interviews with a trio of Black male journalists and personalities following the rollout of a new economic plan, all in the hopes of improving her standing with Black men, who some polls show are less enthusiastic about the election than their female counterparts or may even vote for Republican Donald Trump in historic numbers.
Harris’ campaign schedule along with comments from former President Barack Obama suggesting Black men were insufficiently supportive of Harris and a New York Times/Siena College poll showing the former president winning the support of 20% of Black men have jolted the issue to the front burner of the presidential race.
There is some skepticism about polling showing significant gains for Trump among Black men, with Democratic operatives noting polls underestimated Black support for Democrats in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and in the 2022 midterms — even if all three of those races also saw Democrats struggle to turn out as many Black voters as they hoped.