Kamala Harris’ New Economic Agenda Reveals What She Would Do To Help Black Men

By Philip Lewis, Huffpost

This is the vice president’s latest attempt to engage a voting bloc that Donald Trump and his campaign have also attempted to court this election season.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday unveiled a list of policies aimed toward Black men, her latest attempt to engage a voting bloc former President Donald Trump and his campaign have attempted to court this election season.

Harris’ opportunity agenda for Black men includes a laundry list of policy proposals, including providing a million loans to Black entrepreneurs and others to start businesses, investing in Black male mentorship and training programs, protecting cryptocurrency assets, launching a health equity initiative focusing on diseases that disproportionately impact Black men like diabetes and prostate cancer, and legalizing recreational marijuana for Black men to participate in the burgeoning industry.

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Harris’ plan to provide 1 million loans to black entrepreneurs, for example, would provide resources and capital for the historically marginalized group to pursue business ventures — an avenue for wealth-building. The proposals said the loans would be funded through the Small Business Administration and local partners like banks and would be forgivable up to $20,000.

The Democratic nominee also pledges to provide more financial support for Black farmers and ranchers, set a goal to double quality apprenticeships, and work with Congress to encourage businesses to limit the use of criminal arrest histories and credit scores when vetting potential employees.

The policy proposals come on the heels of much discussion concerning Black male voters. Former President Barack Obama sparked the conversation after he pleaded with Black men to “drop excuses” and support Harris’ bid for the presidency before his speech at a Pittsburgh rally last week.

”Black men feel like [politicians] show up in the fourth quarter for them, or that there’s an underlying expectation of a vote and nobody does anything to earn it,” Fulks said. “But even beyond that, there are a lot of broken promises. This is very important to the vice president and this campaign feels that everything that you see here is achievable.”

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