Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled her new “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” on Monday, promising 1 million fully forgivable loans and a slew of other programs specifically intended to benefit black men.
“Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community. Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation,” said Harris in her new agenda.
The plan promises fully forgivable loans of up to $20,000 each for black entrepreneurs looking to start a business.
The loans will ostensibly be available for “others who have historically faced barriers to starting a new business.”
The document focuses specifically on black men and does not specify how the administration will determine if someone has “historically faced barriers.”
Harris provided scant details on the program, failing to explain the criteria for loan forgiveness.
The loans will be doled out to entrepreneurs with “a good idea” or those in “under-served communities.”
The agenda also includes a plan to encourage more black men to become teachers, directing the Department of Education to work specifically with historically black colleges.
Cryptocurrencies have emerged as an important issue for voters in the upcoming election, and Harris’s new agenda tries to use an unspecified plan for crypto regulations to curry favor with black men.
“More than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned cryptocurrency assets,” said the agenda. “She will make sure owners of and investors in digital assets benefit from a regulatory framework so that Black men and others who participate in this market are protected.”
Harris promised to push legislation to lower hiring standards, implicitly stating that lowering standards will help black men secure jobs they would be unable to get if current standards remain.
Harris plans to work with Congress to pass laws limiting employers’ ability to look into the criminal history of potential employees.
She vowed to eliminate the college degree requirements for 500,000 federal jobs and to push private employers to do the same.
The plan includes a “National Health Equity Initiative for Black Men” to fund programs tailored towards addressing health problems particularly common among black men.
Harris also promised to legalize marijuana nationwide, claiming that black men have been “over-policed” for their marijuana-related crimes.
Harris herself contributed to this “over-policing” while serving as California’s Attorney General, when she reportedly jailed roughly 1,560 people for marijuana-related crimes.
The Opportunity Agenda repackages some of Harris’s previously announced policy proposals, such as her heavily criticized plan to impose price controls on groceries or give up to $25,000 in taxpayer funds to first-time, first-generation homebuyers.
Harris’s new appeal comes as former President Donald Trump has gained support from black men, drawing more black male voters from Democrats than he did in 2016 or 2020.
The Harris campaign’s previous attempt to appeal to black men last week brought in former President Barack Obama to lecture black men for not showing enthusiastic support for Harris.
“I’m speaking to men directly. Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president,” said President Obama.
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