A generational divide saw many young African American men, a traditional Democratic voter base, persuaded by Donald Trump’s promise of a brighter economic future. Older Black men were willing to give Kamala Harris a chance, but they understand the change. The question now is can Trump deliver.
On the last Sunday before Election Day, the area around Detroit’s Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ was packed with onlookers dodging secret service and city police cars as they tried to catch a glimpse of the star guest arriving for the service.
US Vice President Kamala Harris had picked the historic Black church at the corner of Schaefer and Seven Mile roads to worship just days before polls opened on November 5 – and the neighbourhood couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
That was before the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket took a drubbing in the 2024 elections.
On a crisp, sunny morning just days after the resounding Democratic defeat, the pre-election carnival in this predominantly African American neighbourhood had given way to desolation row.
A crushed “Harris-Walz” flyer sat drunkenly on a garbage can outside the church parking lot. Traffic lights changed colours for a handful of vehicles zipping down the wide empty streets. The diner around the corner fluttered an “Open” sign for no takers.
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