At last night's presidential debate, a member of the audience, Mr. James Carter, asked the candidates "Do you believe you can be a devoted president to all the people of the United States?" The fact that Mr. James Carter is a black man helps to explain Donald Trump's response, which included six mentions of the words "inner cities."
Today on Boston Public Radio Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price discussed what that exchange signified, since it was the one and only time African-Americans were addressed during the debate. Emmett Price said that it was a "huge missed opportunity. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton solidified their base but they never moved into the middle ground and tried to grab folks who were undecided and were still wrestling with who to vote for." Price went on to say "You could see the sensitivity that Mr. Carter had so that it was not a "black" question. Of course the moment it came out of his mouth it was a "black" question."
Reverend Irene Monroe pointed out that Hillary Clinton didn't do anything either to reach out to voters, "Hillary is very much trying to woo African-American Millennials and she did nothing last night to change their opinion at all."
To hear Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price discuss the debate, the black evangelical vote, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan's move to give settlements to sexual abuse survivors click on the audio link above.
Irene Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and a weekly commentator on The Take with Sue O’Connell, on NECN. Emmett Price is Professor of Worship, Church & Culture and Founding Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
