DETROIT — William Majors, 59, will vote for the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket in November.
But he has curbed his expectations for what would happen if Harris ascends to the White House.
“She ain’t gonna give me my 40 acres and a mule, like Obama should have,” Majors said Tuesday after voting at Detroit’s Northwest Activities Center.
“She ain’t gonna paint the White House black.”
“I’d like her to make change for everybody,” Majors said.
“But don’t forget the black community.”
In 2008, Barack Obama became America’s first black president.
In 2024, Kamala Harris seeks to become the first female POTUS — and the first black woman in the Oval Office at that.
The conversation about whether Harris is black, or black enough, is still being negotiated quietly within the black community.
Former President Donald Trump last week said the quiet part out loud at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said.
“I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?”
Majors said he doesn’t care about any of that.
“My son and daughter, they’ve both got interracial kids,” said Majors, who is black.
“I judge you on your character.”
Jullisa Travis, 34, is excited to cast a vote for Harris, and at the prospect of a black woman as president.
“Malcolm X said black women are the most disrespected and the least protected group,” Travis said.
“So to have a woman of my race in that power seat, it would mean a lot.”
Harris had just announced Tim Walz, the Democrat governor of Minnesota, as her running mate when Travis finished voting in Michigan’s primary.
Her selection didn’t inspire a reaction, but rather created a homework assignment.
“I know nothing about him, so I don’t like to speak misinformed,” Travis said.
“I would have to look into his policies and the things that he does as a governor. Where is he governor?”
The Trump campaign has been angling for the support of black voters.
Michigan pollster Ed Sarpolus told The Post that black men in 2024 are the “Reagan Democrats” of their time, for a willingness to cross party lines in Trump’s favor.
To counteract that potential trend, Harris supporters have been reaching out to black men in their networks to secure their support.
“I don’t think Trump is going to get a meaningful amount of the black vote,” said Laura Simone, 39, after voting at a Detroit church.
“It’s because of his rhetoric and his loose lips.”
“Meanwhile, we have a chance to elect someone who has actually read a book,” she added, referring to Harris.
But Travis does see a pro-Trump element among black men, especially online.
“I see black men online who are just very disrespectful of Harris,” Travis said.
“They say things like ‘we don’t need no black woman as president.’”
Mitch Crayton, 52, says he’s part of a committee among black Greeks, “the divine nine,” to get out the vote for Harris.
Crayton is a brother of Omega Psi Phi.
“The other day, I registered six felons [to vote],” Crayton said.
“I’m telling guys, if he (Trump) can run as a felon, you can vote as a felon.’”
Crayton does not see Harris’s mixed heritage as a problem. If anything, he said, it’s a sign of the times.
“America is changing,” Crayton said.
“It won’t be the America of old. It’s going to actually be the melting pot. If you notice, she’s biracial. Obama was too. Biracial is the new thing.”