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Women of Color Can Make or Break the Presidential Race
Authenticity is key to courting this constituency
In April, on the historically Black campus of Texas Southern University in Houston, a not-so- quiet political revolution was taking place.
There, in all their multihued glory, was an overflow crowd of more than 1,700 racially and ethnically diverse sistas — Black, Asian, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islanders, plus representatives from 40 organizations. Hailing from across the country, they’d come to take part in the first-ever presidential forum centered around women of color voters.
The confab, organized by She the People — a national network that seeks to empower women of color politically — was a chance for these voters to hear from the sea of candidates (most of them White men) looking to unseat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. With less than 16 months until the general election, women of color — who are sometimes dubbed the “new majority” — have emerged as one of the coveted voting blocs candidates want to woo and win.
We are building coalitions. We want to see who is showing up for us and where.
“This election will not just be about red and blue states, but which candidates are willing to address the racial, gender, social, and economic justice issues impacting women of color,” says She the People founder Aimee Allison. “We are building coalitions. We want to know specifics about policy platforms and who is authentic. We want to see who is showing up for us and where?”
While there are more than two dozen Democratic contenders, plus a handful of Republicans running, this forum drew eight candidates. California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former U.S. housing secretary Julián Castro, and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke attended. Also on hand: Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Trump is slated to announce his re-election bid at a rally in Orlando, Florida, later this month.
Women in the audience quizzed the candidates about everything from universal health care to reproductive justice to wage equity…
