Jemele Hill slams withholding votes for Kamala Harris: ‘stupid strategy’

0:01 Republicans are eyeing a potential in with black

0:03 voters less than 200s before the midterms.

0:05 And Stephen A.

0:06 Smith got a lot of people talking this week when he said this.

0:10 Take a listen.

0:12 I wish for one election that every black person would vote Republican.

0:19 Since 1964, the black people, black folks,

0:23 we have been giving our vote to the Democratic Party at an exorbitant rate.

0:27 Therefore, they know they got our vote.

0:30 The Republicans know they'll never get our vote

0:32 so they don't give a damn about us.

0:34 And as a result, we're the only community in America devoid of representation.

0:41 Somebody very quick to respond was fellow sports journalist Jamil Hill.

0:45 And here's what she had to say.

0:48 Black people aren't aligned with Democrats because

0:50 we think they're so much better or because

0:52 we believe that Democrats don't mess up

0:56 too or that Democrats are without racism.

0:59 The point is we strategically align ourselves where we see the pathway.

1:06 And Jamil Hill joins us now.

1:08 She is a contributing writer for The Atlantic.

1:10 Hey, it's great to have you.

1:11 Thank you on the show, Jamil.

1:13 Tell us and we heard some of your thoughts there,

1:14 but tell us a little bit more in detail

1:17 why you had such a huge problem with Stephen A.

1:20 Smith's comments there and just how simplistic they were.

1:24 So there was a trigger word that he used, and the trigger word was giving.

1:28 Black people didn't give Democratic━the Democratic Party their votes.

1:32 The Democratic Party had to earn them.

1:33 As you all know, the demarcation line in terms of why black people began

1:38 to wholly throw their support behind the party

1:41 was because of three very important bills,

1:43 the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act.

1:46 And when you look at the most progressive legislation

1:48 that has impacted black life over the last 50,

1:53 60 years or since that 1964 kind of fork in the road politically, that is why.

2:00 And so I guess what I reject it.

2:02 And I understand that there's a general dissatisfa━you know,

2:07 general dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party.

2:10 I get that.

2:11 And I understand why.

2:12 And I know that a lot of black voters do in many ways feel taken advantage of.

2:15 But what I reject is this idea that black

2:18 people aren't doing this without thought or strategy.

2:22 It was black people who understood Joe Biden needed to be the candidate.

2:25 It is black people who have understood for, I

2:27 don't know how many elections you want to go.

2:30 What is best for the country?

2:32 And so to come at black voters, like they're just simply not smart enough

2:36 or they're just giving away their vote.

2:37 I just find I had an issue with that.

2:40 And while Stephen A didn't use the words, you know,

2:43 he wasn't trying to necessarily say that black

2:46 people weren't smart about voting for Democrats.

2:49 That's nevertheless the way that it came off.

2:51 And to me, the question he needs to pose is

2:54 why did so many white people leave the Democratic Party?

2:56 Why was civil rights and the idea of equality so horrid to white

3:02 voters that the majority of them have not voted for a Democratic president,

3:05 presidential nominee E since Lyndon B.

3:08 Johnson.

3:09 So why don't you ask them that question instead

3:11 of coming at Black voters and asking us about our vote,

3:15 ask them why they decided to leave the party and what they've I PROMISE YOU,

3:20 A LOT OF WHITE WORKING-CLASS VOTERS,

3:23 WHITE MIDDLE CLASS VOTERS HAVEN'T GOTTEN A RETURN EITHER.

3:28 YET THIS IS ALWAYS THE QUESTION WITH BLACK VOTERS

3:31 BUT NEVER with white voters who continue to vote Republican,

3:35 especially in deep southern states.

3:36 And we see the condition that they are in in terms of economy,

3:41 health care, education.

3:42 That's never posed to them.

3:44 It's only something that is burdened or assumed of black voters.

3:48 I also just want to add, you know, to the history here.

3:51 At one point, black voters did vote Republican

3:53 back in the 1800s into the early 20th century.

3:56 And you know why, too, right?

3:58 Because of Lincoln.

3:59 And then when the Republican Party changed, they changed.

4:02 So black voters are very capable of seeing the facts

4:04 as they are and then realigning themselves and adjusting.

4:07 And so that was the part that I

4:10 don't think Stephen A gave proper historical context to.

4:13 So what do you say it was entirely a historical?

4:15 It's like black people aren't giving anybody their votes.

4:17 These are votes that come with a lot of thought and strategy.

4:19 And as you, as you just said, like Jackie Robinson,

4:22 you know, one of the most celebrated Americans in history.

4:25 and certainly a celebrated sports figure.

4:26 He was a Republican who then changed

4:28 his mind because in his mind, the party changed.

4:31 We all know why the party changed.

4:33 It was a Southern strategy.

4:34 It was Barry Goldwater.

4:35 It was them deciding that in order━they seized

4:37 an opportunity to maintain Deep South white votership.

4:43 That's what happened, and that is why Black people decided to switch over.

4:48 So this idea that Black people should just give Republicans their votes,

4:52 because he doesn't really provide any reason why.

4:54 It's just in response to, well,

4:56 we're unhappy that we haven't gotten enough progress,

4:58 so let's just give them their vote.

5:00 Have Republicans actually earned that?

5:01 Have they actually done anything DO ANYTHING

5:03 AT ALL TO STRATEGICALLY PROVE THAT THEY

5:06 CARE ABOUT BLACK VOTERS OR THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO BLACK VOTERS.

5:09 WHAT WE SEE FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY NOW

5:11 IS A whole lot of alignment with white supremacy.

5:14 We see what just happened with the Voting Rights

5:16 Act and how that was gutted by the Supreme Court.

5:18 We see how the Deep South is now

5:20 moving to basically eliminate black representation from a congressional

5:24 and lawmaking standpoint in allowing majority Black districts

5:29 and Black people who are in the South,

5:32 of which is what almost 60% of Black people live in the South,

5:35 they're eliminating their I THINK IT'S A GOOD IDEA

5:38 TO REWARD THAT PARTY WITH OUR VOTES AND FOR WHAT.

5:42 SO JAMAL, WE'VE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT

5:45 THIS BINARY CHOICE ABOUT SHOULD BLACK VOTERS or indeed any

5:49 contingent of the electorate who's unhappy with the party

5:53 that they've been voting for, vote for the other party.

5:56 There's a third path too,

5:57 which is just sitting it out TOGETHER AND I'M WONDERING WHAT

6:01 YOU MAKE OF THE CONTINGENT OF THE LEFT THAT IN THE LAST

6:07 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SAT OUT A LARGE PART IN CERTAIN PARTS

6:13 PARTICULARLY WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

6:17 AND PARTICULARLY WITH THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION.

6:20 I'M THINKING OF LIKE THE UNCOMMITTED MOVEMENT

6:23 THAT DECIDED NOT TO VOTE FOR Kamala Harris,

6:26 do you think that that was a viable or helpful strategy?

6:30 Is there another way that you would suggest that voters

6:33 who feel like they've been━ their views are being ignored,

6:37 or their votes are being BEING TAKEN FOR GRANTED SHOULD MAKE THEIR WISHES now?

6:45 So I think withholding your vote was a stupid strategy.

6:49 And looking at the condition and shape that our country is in right now,

6:53 only to me affirms that.

6:56 Sometimes, you may come up with a really, you know,

7:12 big offensive play that might get you 10 or 15 or 20 yards.

7:15 But sometimes you've got to be okay with getting

7:18 three yards and then fighting for another down.

7:21 And so those who are unsatisfied with the positions on Gaza,

7:26 the positions with Israel.

7:27 That was a time to fight for another day because

7:31 there was just too much at stake beyond that issue.

7:35 And I'm not trying to minimize what that issue meant to people.

7:37 Like, I understand that a lot of people for them,

7:39 the hard line was genocide and I get that.

7:41 But at the same time,

7:42 I think there was real pressure that could be applied to a Biden

7:47 or a Harris administration that is just off the table completely now.

7:51 And I know there was some folks that were of the opinion of like,

7:55 let's burn it all down and then reconstruct.

7:57 Well, no, because now you're looking

7:59 at this Supreme Court and how they're moving.

8:01 And in general, the way the Republican Party is moving.

8:05 And this is about trying to amass power.

8:09 It's about minority rules.

8:11 So now you don't even get that opportunity.

8:12 So you have to ask yourself,

8:14 was this a worthwhile STRATEGY AND I DON'T THINK IT WAS.

8:17 I JUST DON'T, AND I KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WOULD DISAGREE

8:21 WITH THAT, BUT I THINK THAT THERE WERE OTHER PATHWAYS AND OTHER PRESSURES

8:25 THAT COULD HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE ADMINISTRATION TO GET THEM TO MOVE

8:30 OFF SOME OF THE POINTS THAT THEY WANTED TO MOVE THEM OFF OF.

8:35 JAMALE HILL, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME TONIGHT.

8:36 COMING UP, IT MAY BE MOTHER'S DAY,