Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president and the Vice President of the United States, gave a speech at a campaign event held at a fire station in Redford Charter Township, Michigan on October 4, 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris presented a comprehensive plan called the “Opportunity Agenda” on Monday, specifically targeting the empowerment of Black men. The proposal entails various initiatives, such as offering 1 million forgivable loans to Black entrepreneurs and creating new avenues for success in the legalized marijuana sector for Black Americans.
“This agenda represents a continued manifestation of Vice President Harris’ Opportunity Economy,” stated former Rep. Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Harris campaign. “It is an economy that not only allows people to survive but also enables them to thrive. It aims to equip Black men with the necessary resources to prosper: to purchase a home, support their families, establish businesses, and generate wealth.”
Harris is making this announcement to gain more support from Black male voters. This comes at a crucial time as the race between the Democratic vice president and the Republican former President Donald Trump is extremely close in the final weeks.
The campaign announced on Monday a new plan that aims to support Black entrepreneurs and others in starting their own businesses. This initiative would offer 1 million fully forgivable loans, with amounts of up to $20,000.
The loans would be made available through collaborations between “mission-driven lenders,” community-oriented banks, and the Small Business Administration. This program is designed to provide much-needed financial assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs and promote economic growth within underserved communities.
The agenda additionally encompasses training and mentorship initiatives aimed at assisting Black men in securing employment within high-demand industries. It also entails increased investments in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, with the objective of attracting and retaining Black male educators.
The PSLF program offers student loan forgiveness to individuals who work in specific nonprofit and government positions after 10 years. According to the National Teacher and Principal Survey for the 2020-21 school year, black men account for less than 2% of public school teachers in the United States.
If Harris wins in November, she will make history as the first Black woman and the first South Asian person to be elected president of the United States.
According to a statement from the Harris campaign, Harris aims to dismantle unfair legal obstacles that hinder the progress of Black men and other Americans by advocating for the nationwide legalization of marijuana. She plans to collaborate with Congress to establish laws that promote the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana.
The campaign emphasized that she will actively advocate for the inclusion of Black men in the emerging national cannabis industry. It recognizes the historical injustice of over-policing Black communities for marijuana use and aims to address this disparity by providing opportunities for wealth and employment within the new market.
In Harris’ latest proposal, she includes a few statements about digital assets, indicating her potential departure from the Biden administration’s stance on the matter.
Harris’s campaign emphasizes her awareness of the fact that over 20% of Black Americans possess or have possessed cryptocurrency assets. This understanding drives her commitment to implementing plans that prioritize the protection and welfare of Black men and other individuals who engage in the digital asset market.
Harris aims to ensure that owners and investors in digital assets benefit from a robust regulatory framework. On Monday, the details of the framework were not yet clear. However, Washington is currently witnessing a heated battle over cryptocurrency regulation.
According to a recent poll conducted by the New York Times/Siena College, President Joe Biden received a higher percentage of support from Black voters during the 2020 race compared to what Kamala Harris is currently receiving three weeks before Election Day.
Despite the fact that polls indicate that Black voters overwhelmingly support Harris over Trump, Biden managed to secure a larger share of this crucial Democratic constituency by the end of the 2020 campaign.
Pollsters conducting surveys in late September and early October discovered that approximately 15% of Black likely voters expressed their intention to vote for Trump in the November election.
This percentage stands 6 points higher than Biden’s final margin among Black voters during the 2020 race. These numbers provide a clear indication of the progress that Harris aims to achieve in the upcoming weeks.
Harris aims to draw a clear distinction from Trump by introducing her new proposals that seek to gain the support of Black men.
The vice president consistently links Trump to the Project 2025 agenda, a compilation of strict policy proposals devised by a conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, in collaboration with over 100 other right-leaning organizations.
Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, a proposal that aims to reduce funding for education and safety net programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.