According to W. Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, frustration is at an “all-time high” in the black community regarding Biden’s presidency.
The Black Male Voter Project claims to have reached more than 1.2 million black men in Georgia during the 2020 general election and the Georgia runoffs for U.S. Senate.
“I think the frustration is at an all-time high, and Biden can’t go to Georgia or any other black state in the South and say, ‘This is what we delivered in 2021,’” said Robinson in an interview with The Washington Post. “Black men are pissed off about the nothingness that has happened.”
“Does it make the work harder? It makes the work damn near impossible,” he added later.
According to the article, there are numerous factors behind this growing frustration, including the willingness of Democrats in May to “significantly weaken a policing-reform bill to get Republican support,” and Biden’s decision not to “push for changes to the filibuster to enact a $15 minimum wage,” or to “halt a raft of voting restrictions passed by Georgia’s GOP-led legislature.”
According to the latest polls, Biden’s approval rating has declined to just 44.5%, with 49.2% disapproving of Biden’s performance as president. And based on Pew Research Center data, Biden’s popularity has fallen across all racial groups in just the past few months. For example, Biden’s approval rating was 85% among black voters in July, and it dropped to 67% by September. 30% of black voters disapprove of Biden’s performance as president.
Conversely, Biden’s approval rating has dropped from 45% to 37% for white voters, 72% to 56% for Hispanic voters, and 68% to 54% for Asian voters during the same time period. 61% of white voters, 40% of Hispanic voters, and 44% of Asian voters disapprove of Biden’s performance as president.
“If midterms are about enthusiasm and turnout, who do you think is excited to vote on November 2 at this moment?” said Nsé Ufot, chief executive of the New Georgia Project, another organization which aimed to register voters. “Because it ain’t Democrats. It ain’t black folks. It ain’t young people.”
Earlier in October, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Biden’s expectations “when it comes to dealing with the black agenda, particularly with those that have this small window, like voting rights and also the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”
“What is he expected to do?” a reporter asked. “What is he planning on committing to make sure these things happen?”
“He wants to get both done. He wants to sign them into law,” Psaki responded. “As you know, and you’ve told me in the past, the black agenda is bigger than voting rights and bigger than the George Floyd Police and Justice Act.”
According to Robinson, Biden must improve his outreach to the black community if he hopes to turn the tide.
“They can’t call me and ask me to serve my brothers up on a platter for their benefit,” he said. “They can’t have my data, they can’t have access to what I know about black men from the work that we do, unless I see something serious for black men. And that requires a conversation with [black men] long before Labor Day on an election year.”