If Pete Buttigieg is the key to winning more Black votes for Democrats in South Carolina, then Black voters should be very clear about what they really want. The former secretary of transportation under President Joe Biden is campaigning in South Carolina under the assumption that his influence can help Democrats shore up Black votes in the general election.
Buttigieg clearly has eyes set on running for president again in 2028, and despite his ambitions, even his South Carolina host and former South Carolina Rep. Bakari Sellers expressed skepticism to Politico, describing him as a "freak political athlete," going further to ask, "Can he ever win the big one?"
It's a fair question, especially since the Democrat Party has set its 2028 presidential primary contest to begin in South Carolina come January. But it also begs the question of what exactly do Democrat leaders think today's African American voters want?
Democratic politicos and elites have used shallow theatrics and rousing speeches to secure Black loyalty for the last five decades. Historical precedent suggests that not much else was required since most Blacks thought more government spending would help with upward mobility.
Yet, as the 60-year dismal record of government involvement to fight poverty has shown, and as DSA candidates are now sweeping Democrat primaries across the nation, early voting patterns show Black voters questioning the narrative of government enlargement.
In Detroit, Black Democrats voted for the more moderate Senate candidate against the democratic socialist Abdul El-Sayed, and in the Florida 20th District, Blacks voted for the establishment's choice of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz over the more progressive Black candidates.
Looking at key data across major factors, African American progress is clear. Most Blacks today are in America's great middle class, and 40 percent live in suburbs all around each state.
The greatest progress is noted in education. High school completion among Black adults rose from about 25 percent in the 1960s to well over 90 percent in the 2020s. Bachelor's degree attainment climbed from 4 percent to 27 percent. Economic markers also improved substantially, with official poverty rates plummeting from over 50 percent to the high teens.
It's true that there are still major gaps in overall savings, wealth and net worth, but by and large, can socialists' policies of the new progressive left be sold to African Americans in the working and upper middle class?
"Tax the rich" might grab social media headlines, but with our nation in $40 trillion of debt and only 800 billionaires in the country, if government confiscated all of their wealth, it could pay its bills all of maybe 10 months.
It appears Black voters are shifting away from rousing speeches and empty platitudes of inequality and social justice and expressing more common concerns of economic growth and affordability. Slow movement began when 12 percent of Black men voted for Donald Trump in 2016 based on his brash and broad declaration to Make America Great Again.
It will be interesting to see what Black voters do with GOP former House representatives Byron Donalds, who aspires to be the next governor of Florida, and John James, who is running for governor in Michigan. Will these voters pay close attention to candidate differences on matters of school choice or economic opportunity?
Midterm Black voters have a rare advantage to direct the trajectory of our country if they decide to take it. The question is whether Black voters will move beyond Democrats' new thrust into the DSA agenda and take a second look at Republicans.
While pundits will be paying close attention, so will traditional Democrat leaders who have allowed the once-maligned socialists in our country to take massive control over their party.
If Democrats want to keep Black voters in their party, perhaps they should move past the politics of envy and start treating Black voters like free people.
If Republicans want to gain Black voters, perhaps they should stop acting like they can't be moved back to the party of Frederick Douglass and go ask for their vote.
Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and author of "Necessary Noise, How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why this is Good News for America" (Hachette 2019). To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.