President Joe Biden made a campaign stop at the Dr. John Bryant Community Center during his visit to Racine Wednesday to connect with Black voters.
According to election experts, Black voters will be crucial at the polls, especially in Wisconsin, which went to former President Donald Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020.
Both candidates swung the state with about a mere 20,000 votes; experts believe Black turnout was a key factor in both races.
A collection of Racine and Kenosha area elected officials, pastors, students, and other community leaders met with the president during his visit.
TMJ4 reporter Tahleel Mohieldin spoke with Black voters who were inside the community center for his visit and area neighbors who watched from the outside.
Joe Pipes is a pastor with Greater St Luke's Baptist Church in Racine and a Biden supporter. After Wednesday’s gathering with the president, he said he feels like Biden sees Black voters as more than just numbers.
“President Biden, really kind of showed us that he’s human,” Pipes said. “He felt what we feel. He tries to connect with the history and not really trying to sell himself. We saw his humanity and that was amazing.”
Kenosha District 14 Alderman Kenny Harper said he was able to speak briefly with the president. He said in the upcoming election he’s focusing on housing shortages, and developing entrepreneurship.
“It was very nice to be able to have an upfront conversation with the president, and let him know our views,” Harper said. “He’s definitely got Black voters interested. The thing is that as a Black community, we need to be more engaged in all aspects and we need to realize the power of our vote.”
Other Black voters who live in the area, stood outside looking in, watching the presidential motorcade drive through their neighborhood.
Racine resident and military veteran Merdis Husdon was among them. She said she's voting for Biden come November but isn’t pleased with how he’s handling Gaza.
“It just doesn’t make sense how many people are dying,” she said. “That’s the one issue that I see might deter people from voting for Biden he needs to address that like right away.”
She is however supportive of the president’s stance on abortion and the state of the economy. Hudson also said she believes Biden is doing the best he can with Black voters but would like to see more emphasis on education through grassroots organizations.
Others gathering outside the Bryant Community Center took a stronger stance against Biden. A group of about a dozen pro-Palestine protestors were there criticizing Biden’s support of Israel.
Among that group was Kenosha resident Justin Blake, whose nephew Jacob Blake was shot by police in 2020. Justin said fear of a Trump presidency isn’t enough to sway his vote, and that he’d be voting for third-party candidate Cornell West, regardless of his chances.
"We should have another option,” he said. “If it takes to get a lump over the head for this country to straighten up and fly right then let that be."
He also said on top of the president’s handling of Gaza he’s displeased with what he called a lack of follow-through against police violence following the death of George Floyd.
“We were convincing them that President Biden was for the African American community and for once was going to bring something of substance to our community,” Justin said of his campaign efforts in 2020. “We were played.”
Many who met with Biden Wednesday said those issues don’t fall squarely on the president’s shoulders alone and that they’re looking at the full picture.
They pointed to his impact on healthcare for seniors, infrastructure investments in minority communities, and support of minority-owned businesses.
Historically, Racine County has been a critical location. All but five of the past 33 winning presidential candidates carried it. Trump is one of the five who lost Racine County but won the election.
Campaign officials said team Biden-Harris is launching a new $14 million paid media investment throughout May in battleground states including Wisconsin.
They said this includes seven-figure investments into African American, Hispanic, and AAPI media, and follows the largest and earliest investment in Black media by a reelection campaign to date.
Wednesday marked Biden’s fourth trip to Wisconsin in 2024 alone. Ahead of his visit to the Bryant Community Center, Biden made remarks at Gateway Technical College supporting Microsoft’s plans to invest $3.3 billion to build a new artificial intelligence facility in Mount Pleasant.
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