A split in the Black community over Kamala Harris has erupted into a melee on social media.
Radio host Rickey Smiley encountered massive pushback online after he scolded Black voters who refused to support the vice president’s White House run.
“I’m just sick of the Black people on the internet talking about, ’I’m not with [Ms. Harris].’ OK, so if you’re not with her, that means you’re with Trump,” Mr. Smiley said on his morning radio show. “Y’all need to block every last one of their asses on Facebook and on Instagram and social media — and stop. That’s just garbage.”
He added, “[We] can’t agree on a damn bucket of chicken. One person wants a hot dog. Black folks get on my damn nerves, man,” he said.
Civil rights activist Umar Johnson excoriated Mr. Smiley and fellow Harris booster Steve Harvey.
Mr. Johnson said the Harris campaign offered him $10,000 to interview Ms. Harris, but he turned down the money.
“I’m not no Rickey Smiley or Steve Harvey. You don’t drop no check off and say, ’Get the negroes to the plantation on November the [5th],’” he said on his YouTube show that was posted on X, adding, “Black vote ain’t for sale.”
He said Mr. Smiley was embarrassing himself.
“Ricky Smiley, I love you, but crying on the radio for Kamala Harris, my brother, that’s an all-time low. Don’t do that again.”
“Ricky Smiley and Steve Harvey, y’all only carried on because y’all got paid to carry on,” Mr. Johnson said. “Kamala Harris and the Democratic plantation is paying you celebrities, paying you to shame Black people into voting. Y’all know we not going to get nothing out of that vote.”
Online influencer and former NBA player Kwame Brown also took issue with Mr. Smiley.
“How is this dude scolding everybody who is Black, trying to force them to vote for Kamala? Rickey, Do you not know we can see, bro?” he said on his “Bust Life” YouTube show. “People can vote for Cornel West. You can’t just say stupid s—-, like, ’If you’re saying you’re not with Kamala, that means you’re with Trump.’ Why would you say something like that when there’s other people on the ballot?”
The tempest on social media highlights the rift in the Black community about supporting Ms. Harris — a rift that worries her allies such as Mr. Smiley.
Although recent polls show a spike in support for the top of the Democratic ticket since President Biden dropped out and Ms. Harris took his place, she hasn’t recovered all of the Black voters who abandoned Mr. Biden’s reelection run.
In 2020, 92% of Black voters voted for Mr. Biden, while only 8% cast a ballot for former President Donald Trump. If the election were held today, 81% of Black likely voters would vote for Ms. Harris compared to 18% for Mr. Trump, according to a CBS News poll.
The Washington Times reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Ms. Harris is working to mobilize Black voters through the Divine Nine group of Black Greek college organizations. Ms. Harris is a member of the largest, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Mr. Smiley who is a member of a Divine Nine college fraternity, celebrated the prospect of Ms. Harris being sworn in as president by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, another member of a Divine Nine sorority.
“You got a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. reading in a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. into the damn White House,” he said. “What’s wrong with y’all?”
Black social media influencer Demetra Kaye clapped back on her show that members of the Black sororities and fraternities were not in charge of the Black vote.
“You’re going to have to give me something for my vote. And he’s mad about that, telling us to just stop it. Like, who is she? Kamala is not better than us,” she said. “The fraternities and sororities, they’re not better than us, and that’s the other thing. They think that they have been put in charge of us.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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