In reaching out to black men, Harris vows to legalize weed and protect crypto: NPR

Vice President Kamala Harris pledged Monday to legalize recreational marijuana, protect cryptocurrency assets and provide 1 million loans to Black entrepreneurs as part of her efforts to woo Black voters who could play a crucial role in the presidential race.

Polls show some black men may be drawn to former President Trump, Harris’s Republican rival, or not vote at all. Harris and other prominent Democrats are trying to counteract this.

Initiatives announced by Harris on Monday include:

• Legalizing recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in the industry
• 1 million fully forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Black entrepreneurs and others to start businesses
• a plan develops rules for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets; According to the campaign, more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets
• Invest more in Black male teachers, promote registered apprenticeships and certification opportunities in Black communities, and invest in leadership training and mentorship programs like My Brother’s Keeper
• a national health equity initiative focused on Black men, addressing sickle cell anemia, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer and other health challenges that disproportionately affect them

Harris will speak about the plan Monday in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Former Rep. Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign, said her new announcement is part of her promise of an “opportunity economy” – “an economy in which people not only make ends meet, but get ahead.” Where black people “Men are equipped with the tools to be successful: to buy a home, to provide for our families, to start a business and to build wealth,” he said in a statement.

On Monday, Harris will meet with a group of black men in Erie, Pennsylvania, before holding a rally in the city. And on Tuesday, she plans to meet with black business owners in Detroit after a town hall moderated by Charlamagne tha God, the influential black radio host who has taken very few hits with Democratic politicians.

She spent the weekend campaigning in North Carolina and visited a black church in Greenville, N.C., before holding a community rally in a part of the state where Democrats hope to boost turnout among black voters.

Obama spoke out last week

Waning support among black men could hurt Harris in an upcoming close election. Most polls show she and Trump are in a dead heat. Last week, former President Barack Obama, the first black president, said he wanted to “tell some truths” about why turnout and enthusiasm for Harris fell far short of what he experienced in 2008.

“Part of it makes me think that you just don’t feel comfortable having a woman as president and that you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for it,” Obama said.

In response, the Black Men for Trump Advisory Council issued a statement calling Obama’s comments “deeply offensive.”

“Black Americans are not a monolith, and we do not owe our votes to any candidate just because he ‘looks like us,'” they said in a statement. “It is demeaning to suggest that we cannot evaluate a candidate’s track record — especially when Kamala Harris has done more harm than good to Black communities.”

As part of its public relations efforts, the Harris campaign will specifically target black men in the final days of the election, her campaign says. Events include partnerships with influential Black men and conversations with Black business owners.

NPR’s Elena Moore contributed to this report.