This week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) re-opened our Black American Community Center focused on Black engagement in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s the second minority outreach center we’ve established in the Peach State and the second RNC Black American Community Center we’ve opened nationally this year. As we lay out our midterm election ground game, continuing to make inroads with the Black community is a key component of our strategy to take back our majorities in Congress and reverse the damage of Democrat policies.
For too long, Democrats have taken Black voters for granted. Democrats condescendingly tell Black voters what they should care about and the party they should join, pushing divisive identity politics and critical race theory. Then, when Black Americans dare to express their support for conservative values and Republican candidates, they are demonized by the left.
The record is clear: President Biden and his fellow Democrats have failed the Black community with their policies.
Under Biden, the unemployment rate for Black Americans is still nearly 8 percent and has fallen less than it has for whites, Hispanics, or Asian Americans. As Democrats spend with abandon, Black Americans are watching costs rise for everyday goods. Gasoline prices are up nearly 43 percent, electricity costs 5 percent more, and clothing is 4 percent more expensive compared to last year. Groceries are more expensive too, with Americans seeing higher prices for kitchen staples like eggs, chicken, and fresh fruit. Minorities and all lower-income Americans are hit hardest by these surges in prices, which is essentially a tax increase.
This is a dramatic shift from the prosperity and opportunities of recent years under GOP leadership. With Republicans at the helm, the poverty rate for Blacks in Georgia fell to 19.1 percent in 2019, down from 22.3 percent in 2016. As a result of the Trump tax cuts, hundreds of Opportunity Zones were created in Georgia, which are projected to create jobs and spur billions of dollars in investments in disadvantaged communities across the state. Policies like these enabled Black Americans to experience record low unemployment and the lowest Black poverty level in history. During President Trump’s first three years in office, 1.2 million Black Americans were lifted out of poverty, the highest number for the first three years of any president in U.S. history.
Democrats have also put Black education on the back burner by slashing funds for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The latest version of Biden’s alleged ‘Build Back Better’ spending bill would allot $2 billion to HBCUs, much less than what was promised.
As the only state in the country with more than one top 10 ranked HBCU, this reversal particularly impacts Georgia. It’s a change from the priority treatment HBCUs received under President Trump, who signed the FUTURE Act to permanently fund America’s HBCUs and fought for a tax credit to help fund scholarships to private schools. And when the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping the country, President Trump signed legislation that provided $1 billion to HBCUs impacted by the virus.
Leftist policies have prompted a surge in crime, too. In Georgia, the homicide rate increased from 8.1 per 100,000 people in 2019 to 10.5 last year. Nationally, the homicide rate exploded 30 percent in 2020—the biggest year-to-year increase in a century. Much of this is thanks to Democrats’ efforts to defund the police. Despite the fact that only 28 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of all Americans support defunding the police, radical activists urge cities to slash their law enforcement numbers anyway. These dangerous policies harm minority communities the most. And to date, there is still no meaningful police reform legislation because the Democrats filibustered Sen. Tim Scott’s JUSTICE Act last year and walked away from bipartisan negotiations this year.
It’s no wonder that President Trump gained more support from Black voters in 2020 and earned the highest share of the minority vote of any GOP candidate since 1960. Republican solutions work, and the RNC remains committed to making our case to Black Americans in Atlanta and beyond.
As we look ahead to the midterm elections, Republicans hope to win over new voters—not through the divisive, patronizing narrative of identity politics, but rather by highlighting policies like school choice and supporting candidates who seek to uplift Americans. We believe our message of freedom, opportunity, and prosperity transcends skin color. Through our newest community center, we look forward to fostering relationships within Georgia’s Black community and proving to Atlantans why we deserve their vote.
