Tennessee/Pennsylvania/North Carolina: Fifty-six years ago, a 39-year-old man stood outside room 306 at the Lorraine Motel. And a shot was fired from across the street, ending the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK was in Memphis to march with sanitation workers, a city in the Deep South at the intersection of Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi that was once a major slave market.
Today, the motel has been converted into the National Civil Rights Museum. Being inside the museum is like taking a trip through five centuries of brutal history – of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, of black labor in the cotton and tobacco plantations that made America rich, of the Civil War that led to the end of slavery, of Jim Crow. It saw institutionalized political segregation, social exclusion, economic impoverishment, and a sustained assault on black bodies and dignity in every sphere of life.
It’s like taking a trip back through decades of black struggle, to the thinkers and warriors who never gave up the dream of equality, to the churches and unions and newspapers and historically black colleges that created black consciousness, to Gandhian inspiration, The Freedom Rides and marches and speeches saw blacks fighting for every inch of space in public life and basic human rights. And next to Room 306, where tragedy struck in 1968 and snatched away the man who led the movement for civil rights for blacks, journey toward a moment where the community finally, if only partially, formally won rights, including the right to vote. ,
But as much as they recognize what happened half a century ago, just a mile away on Trail, Quinton, Aaron, Chanyara, today’s realities matter. And maybe after so many decades, these four black men and women who work in a hotel on Beale Street, the street where Elvis and B.B. King made their names and where budding musicians play blues, rock and country music, are having the same party. As white Southerners, the party of Donald Trump.
Trump’s appeal
“I do not like either. Kamala (Harris) is fake. Trump talks trash about everyone who isn’t white or rich. But Trump gave us the money,” Trail said, crediting Trump for the stimulus checks he received during COVID (thanks to the Democratic Congress). Quinton nodded, “He doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut but he won’t drag us into foreign wars. And a woman is not ready to lead America. Foreign countries will not take Kamala seriously.”
Chanyara, the only woman in the group, disagreed with the gender-based assessment but agreed with the politics. “Hey man, women can lead. But his values don’t match mine.” And Aaron, the youngest in the group, said, “Look, (Joe) Biden and Harris give money to Ukraine but no money for hurricane relief. Trump is better for the economy.”
Tennessee is a clear red state and there is no doubt that its Electoral College votes will go to Trump. And these voices do not represent all black voters, who overwhelmingly side with Kamala Harris. But they represent a fracture in the Democratic base, a fracture that is striking because a Black woman is at the top of the ticket, and perhaps signals churn in racial voting patterns.
It’s a turn that polls have captured and that has prompted Barack Obama to join the campaign to scold black people for misogyny. It’s a fracture that has led Harris to announce her own agenda for black men, visit black churches and go on a podcast widely popular among black men. This is a fracture that Trump is taking advantage of by claiming how illegal immigration is taking away jobs from blacks, how the economy was better for blacks under him, and how — and he has said this repeatedly — he is post-Abraham. The best president for blacks. Lincoln.
It’s a fracture born partly of patriarchy, partly of Democrats’ desperation to take the black vote for granted, partly of perceived economic reasons, partly of misinformation, and partly Because of Trump’s equal attraction to populism and projection. Strength that attracts other youth. And this is a fracture that could matter in a close election with such a narrow margin.
Harris’s appeal
But this is not the whole story. A dent is a dent, not a complete one. Swing states offer a different perspective for black men and black women.
At Liberty Palace in Philadelphia, HT met Kyra, DJ, Ramireh, and Marcus, who worked as ticket agents and food servers at a movie theater.
For 20-year-old Kyra, who was planning to vote for the first time, abortion rights were a decisive issue. “My family is Democrat and I would have voted for Harris anyway. But being a woman, abortion is a big issue for me. I also have medical issues and I can’t believe Trump took away my rights.” For the 25-year-old DJ, Project 2025 – the Heritage Foundation document that Democrats claim is Trump’s de facto governing blueprint, while Trump says it’s not – a major issue. “It says they will allow the police to stop and investigate. It will affect black men like me and brown men like you,” he told this reporter, “and if they can take away abortion for women, they can take away rights for men too. They may say that you cannot get a haircut any further.
For Ramir, 21, Harris’s roots matter. “It’s not that she’s black. That is that she came from middle and lower class. Trump was born on a silver platter. What does he know about us?” And for 22-year-old Marcus the issue was inflation. “His policies will increase prices. “That will make things easier for the rich and force us to pay more.”
There is a similar sentiment at the University of Pennsylvania, a liberal bastion. Andrew is a 20-year-old junior from a nearby rural county who said he hasn’t been in politics, but mostly with his friends from church and a faith organization. “But I took a quiz to find out which way I lean based on issues like college tuition fees, health care and tax policies. And it looks like I’m a Democrat. Asked if Harris’ race was a factor for him, Andrew said, “No.”
Outside Wharton Business School, Trump’s alma mater, Swinth Rodriguez, a postal worker whose family was originally from Trinidad but who was born and raised in Philly, was picking up the mail. He said that Trump is dangerous. “If he wants, he can fire me. Kamala will not. He abuses all communities that are not white. She doesn’t. Trump wants to help the rich. She wants to help everyone, just check out her offer to support home ownership. Trump will be (Fidel) Castro, he has said he wants to become a dictator, she will not become a dictator.
black women’s base
Even though there is a fracture among men, black women remain with Harris in overwhelming numbers and it is visible in both the states where Harris is targeting and in the red states that she will not win.
At a café near Rocky Mount, off the highway, Roxie Barnes, who works at the Pentagon, and her daughter, Candice Martin, who is currently unemployed, sat with Tameka Edge, a hair stylist.
Barnes and Martin had already voted, and proudly said they were the 12th and 13th voters at their polling station and had voted for Democrats up and down the ballot. Explaining his reasons, Martin said, “Harris cares about everyone. That is divisive.” His mother agreed, “That would just create a mess. And see, the majority is not with them. So they try to manipulate elections and suppress votes. And look what he did with abortion. “I don’t believe that the government or the courts should tell people what to do.” Edge presented his arguments. “I have a mother who needs health care. The Biden-Harris administration reduced costs. I need health care and Obamacare helps me with pre-existing conditions. Trump won’t do anything for people like us.”
Asked if she felt men in her community were being attracted to Trump, Agee said, “It’s the patriarchy. Men don’t want to take orders from women at home, and they don’t want to take orders from women as commander in chief. But in our community, black people either won’t vote or will vote for Harris. They will not vote for Trump.”
In Wilmington, North Carolina, a part of New Hanover County that went with Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020, Lotasha, who served in the Army Reserves and currently works as a prison corrections officer, said she just Till now no decision has been taken and the issue that was most important for them was security.
“Trump’s delivery is terrible. He is arrogant and proud. This is not a good thing for a leader. Then you cannot strategize carefully. But I like his policies on security and immigration. On the other hand, I haven’t seen what Harris has done under Biden and what she can do. She is calm and light-hearted but doesn’t seem serious at times.”
When this reporter suggested it seemed like she would vote for Trump, Lotasha quickly dismissed it, “I really think you have to be attractive as a leader. And that’s only for those people. Who are charming and relatable are racist.” Lotasha said she has heard from many people, especially in law enforcement, that they are with Trump. “But they are also Caucasian and I think it’s coming from racism because of what Trump says about immigrants.” Yes. I’m not like him.”
In Memphis, Teresa, a former FedEx employee – FedEx is headquartered in the city, and the company, coincidentally, is led by an Indian-American – was clear that she was with Harris because Trump was a “joke.” In a sentiment that shows patriarchy was not limited to men only, she said, “I think the presidency is a man’s job. But not when the man is a jokester like him. If he becomes President the world will laugh at us again. It should be Kamala Harris.”
In these 15 black voices, across three states, one can sense the inevitable political diversity within a larger community, where gender plays an important, but not all-determining role. These voices and conversations are the issues that animate the American electorate, from the economy to race, from immigration to abortion. And it is in these voices that past and present come together. He may agree with many, he may disagree with some, but it is this right to vote and this right to express oneself that MLK Jr. fought for and gave his life on that balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Gave it.
