Warren Has Lagged With Voters Of Color. But She Has Strong Support In Boston's Black Community

[BeyondGeography]

Elizabeth Warren was on stage in Houston in April when a woman asked her what she would do to address the fact that for black women, the risk of death due to pregnancy-related causes is three to four times higher than it is for white women. Warren pointed out that this holds true for well-educated and wealthy African-American women. "And the best studies that I've seen put it down to just one thing: prejudice, that doctors and nurses don't hear African-American women's medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women," she said.

Warren's answer may have a long-lasting impact. Recent polls have suggested that Warren has struggled so far in her presidential run to gain widespread support among black voters. But in the audience at the She the People gathering were politically active women of color from across the country. "[Warren] was able to respond to issues with a level of depth and sincerity on that stage that I think has reverberated 'til today," said Aimee Allison, who organized the event. "She talked really heart to heart with this group, and she impressed 2,000 organizers from swing states across the South and Southwest, and people sang from the rooftops." Warren was one of eight presidential candidates at the forum — including minority candidates Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Julián Castro — but according to several people present, it was Warren who made the strongest impression.

...Warren shows up several times a year at Roxbury's 12th Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. preached when he was a student at Boston University's divinity school. Last year, during a service commemorating King's assassination, Warren read from her grandmother's King James Bible. She chose a reading from the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus tells his disciples: "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me." And then she tied that message to the situation in America. "It's tough for a lot of people out there," Warren said, "and what that says to me is that we have a bigger obligation than ever, a responsibility to act for these, the least of thy brethren, and to do it to honor Dr. King, and to do it to honor the Lord."

Segun Idowu, executive director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, was there that night, and said Warren was "received ecstatically."..Miniard Culpepper, senior pastor at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Roxbury, also supports Warren's presidential bid. He says as his relationship with Warren grew, so did the congregation's. "She also demonstrated to the community how much she cared for the issues that folks in the community were dealing with," he said. "Whether it was housing, whether it was education, whether it was employment, whether it was gentrification, she understood and articulated the same issues that the African-American people in the community felt good about, so it was a natural fit."

Warren polls well among nonwhite voters in progressive Massachusetts. In the last WBUR poll before her Senate re-election last fall, 68% of nonwhite voters had a favorable view of her. (The poll didn't measure favorability among black voters specifically.)...One likely asset: the diversity of her campaign staff. Monica Cannon-Grant was invited to a meeting of Massachusetts black leaders at Warren's campaign headquarters in Boston. "I remember walking in and looking around at her staff and I go: 'Oh, okay. This is amazing.' " She added: "Regardless of how much we want to downplay it, representation matters. The amount of diversity on her campaign is truly amazing."

More at https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/09/09/elizabeth-warren-african-american-support

Warren’s epic close at She the People:

[IronLionZion]

1. Warren supporter of color checking in

[BeyondGeography]

2. We can do this!

[blm]

3. They are just getting to know her nationally.

[B Stieg]

4. Her lack of support w/black voters is my only concern re: her candidacy...

but I also think she's one of the few who has and still can improve her standing with those all-important voters and citizens!