Tuesday, July 16, 2024
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from URL Media's network of Black and Brown publishers.
Salman Fiqy, pictured on April 1, 2024, says more Somali voters are choosing Republican candidates. He ran as a Republican in the primary for a seat in the state House of Representatives, but lost. Credit: Dymanh Chhoun | Sahan Journal
Some Somali voters say economy, social issues are driving them to vote for Trump: Former president Donald Trump is sounding more appealing to some Somalis in Minnesota who are increasingly becoming middle class, writes the Sahan Journal’s Joey Peters. These Somalis cite their Muslim faith for their culturally conservative values, and have protested against LGBTQ picture books in St. Louis Park Public Schools. High inflation and interest rates coupled with school guidelines supporting transgender students are among reasons why some are making the shift towards the Republican party’s candidate.
The notion of voters of color leaving Democrats for Republicans is a familiar story with evidence showing a shift in preference for Republicans among Black and Latino men since the middle of Trump’s presidency between 2017 and 2021, according to University of Minnesota political scientist Christopher Federico. But that shift is marginal and doesn’t apply to women.
“There’s a lot of noise out there right now,” says David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University, regarding voters of color voting for Republicans. “And how much of that noise translates into real political behavior, we just don’t know yet.”Sahan Journal has more here →
New York Post falsely claims “Chinese man” shot Trump, Chinese communities outraged: Chinese community representatives held a news conference Monday at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Chinatown to call for a formal apology from the New York Post, which falsely claimed a “Chinese man” was behind former president Donald Trump’s attempted assassination on Saturday, July 13.
While the news was corrected, Documented’s April Xu noted that it quickly spread on Chinese-language social media WeChat and ignited enormous anger among Chinese American communities.
Chinese community activist Queenie Ho was one of the first to contact the New York Post after finding the error, according to Documented. “It reminded me of everything the Asian community went through during the pandemic — being attacked, bullied, pushed down, and even killed. We don’t want to see anything that could incite more racism against Chinese people.”Documented has more here →
Political violence, Project 2025 cast shadow over GOP convention: With the Republican National Convention underway, Brandon Tensley’s latest story in Capital B highlights how Donald Trump’s assassination attempt has heightened the anxieties of Black voters, many who fear another Trump presidency could further normalize white supremacy. With a 16-page Republican Party platform – which limits funding for schools teaching Critical Race Theory – and the 900-page conservative manifesto known as Project 2025 that would abolish DEI initiatives, Black voters worry how these plans could influence Trump.
DeAngelo Bester, the founder and executive director of the Workers Center for Racial Justice in Wisconsin, put it this way: “If you want democracy and affordable housing and better jobs and stuff like that, then there’s only one legitimate candidate. Who would you rather fight to get the policies you want: Biden, or someone who’s trying to be a dictator?”
Still, other Black Americans continue to support Trump.
“He’s not perfect. He’s not the most refined or eloquent person. But he loves what he does, he gives it his all, and he’s passionate about this country,” Ronald Gibson, a Black conservative voter, told Capital B. “I appreciate an individual who shows up to work like that.”Capital B has more here →
APIA Vote’s Presidential Town Hall pushes Biden-Harris in Philly: Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance at Asian Pacific Islander American Vote’s 2024 Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia made one thing clear for AsAmNews’ Jia Jung, “that fear of Trump is no longer sufficient, if it ever was, to inspire unified mobilization of communities as diverse as Asian Americans, and, distinctly, Pacific Islanders.”
Jung noted that amid chants of “four more years,” there were also demonstrators shouting “free, free Palestine” as Harris addressed attendees. The political leaders in attendance, who were mostly Northeast Asian Democrats, Jung writes, “showed what to vote against more than what to specifically vote for.”
No presidential candidate joined this year’s July 13 event hosted by the nonpartisan APIA Vote, which launched its presidential town hall events in 2008 to bring political leaders with varying views to engage with AAPI communities. No one from the Republican party responded to APIA Vote or its coalitions’ attempts at outreach, and no green or third party candidates were part of the event.AsAmNews has more here →
Bishop Toussaint's $60 million megachurch sparks mixed reactions among Haitians (The Haitian Times)
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