Talking to a wide range of Black voters Tuesday in South Carolina, the big topic on everyone’s mind is racial tension.
“I kind of feel like it’s a lot going on. It’s kind of scary, now that I have kids. So I’m just hoping after today, a little changes,” a voter said.
Mika Gadsden says she was born to Jim Crow refugees. She is now a political activist and says she recently asked her father if the racial tension we’re seeing today is similar to what he experienced decades ago. His answer was not what Gadsden expected.
“He actually surprised me and said that this is unlike some of things he saw growing up. So I said ‘Pops, you’ve seen the clan in action’ and he said ‘yes, but that was typically under the shadow of night. You didn’t know who, what, when or where’. He feels as though it’s more brazen now,” Gadsden explained.
Trudy Grant is a senior consultant for the Conference of National Black Churches. She’s actually been organizing drivers to get people to the polls Tuesday.
She says what happened to George Floyd and so many other innocent people of color really impacted the political views of the Black community this election season.
“That happened in the front of the world. So it’s not as if we’re making up that there’s police brutality. We don’t have to make it up. You all saw it. And so I think that has made the difference. It has opened the eyes of not only the Black community, but also everyone around the world,” Grant said.
A majority of the Black community we spoke to is in favor of a Biden-Harris win. But there is a group of Black conservatives who are rallying behind Trump, like Charleston community leader Johnathan Thrower.
“He’s been one of the only Republican presidents that have talked straight to Black America,” Thrower said. “I’d be nervous if Biden becomes president. One of the things I’d be nervous about is how will be handle the economy during COVID. That’s going to be my major concern.”
Thrower says he believes limited government and fewer taxes benefits people of color. Above all else, Pastor Sh-qur Francis says we need to be good to each other moving forward. “Evaluate for yourself, and decide for yourself that you’re going to be a good person,” Francis said.
What everyone agrees on, is that the hate crimes need to stop, and they are hoping to see that change in the next four years.