I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1956. I felt the effect of Jim Crow laws in my own community, and I watched them end. I was raised in a Deep South where it wasn’t just unsafe for a Black American to seek elected office – it was an unsafe place to be a Black American.

Over the course of my life, there has been a political realignment I didn’t know was possible. Black politicians in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi are supported and celebrated. Black voices get elevated. But the places where Black Americans used to seek refuge from a racist South have started to silence their Black voices and push away their Black leaders.

Nowhere are the consequences clearer than in the previous Democratic stronghold (at least, in presidential races) of Michigan. When Black Michigan voters were first presented with Donald Trump at the top of their ticket in 2016, only 6% filled in the bubble next to his name. In 2020, the number increased to 7%, and in 2024, it jumped to 11%. While a four-point gap might seem insignificant, it represents tens of thousands of Black voters who are increasingly voting against Michigan Democrats.

A state that hadn’t voted for a Republican in a presidential election since 1984, and a state whose biggest city is nearly 80% Black, has now chosen Donald Trump in two of the last three elections.

It begs the question: where have Democrats gone wrong?

Well, we can see how the career of Michigan’s current lieutenant governor, Garlin Gilchrist II, is playing out. Gilchrist, a Black man, was born in Detroit, educated at the University of Michigan, and built a career centered around community organizing. In other words, his resume should be exactly what Michigan’s Democratic establishment should dream of. Yet his political career has been lambasted by his own party at every turn.

In 2023, Gilchrist announced he was considering running for Michigan’s soon-to-be vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. The next month, he announced he wouldn’t be running for anything in 2024, and Elissa Slotkin, a white woman and the establishment favorite, would go on to become Michigan’s next senator.

In 2025, Gilchrist announced he’d be running to be Michigan’s next governor. From the very moment he announced, it felt like he was playing second fiddle to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, another white woman. The money, the endorsements, and the backing of establishment Democrats went to Benson. Last month, Gilchrist officially ended his campaign for governor after being forced out for “political reasons.” He announced that he’d seek Benson’s job as Secretary of State.

Michigan Democrats successfully pushed out a Black leader to anoint the establishment-backed white candidate.

If he were to win, Gilchrist would take over a Secretary of State Department from Benson that has repeatedly faced complaints of racial discrimination in the workplace. In 2024, the department settled with a Black employee who alleged a “racially hostile environment.” In 2026, four more Black employees have come forward with similar allegations, and Benson’s former Assistant Secretary of State cited the department’s failure to address discrimination as one of his reasons for leaving.

Leading up to the 2024 election, Benson and the Secretary of State Department were sued, with plaintiffs alleging that the recently redrawn district boundaries diluted Black voting power in Metro Detroit. A three-judge panel agreed, and 13 state legislative districts had to be redrawn.

Just to be clear, Michigan’s Democratic establishment forced an accomplished Black voice out of their gubernatorial race in favor of a white woman whose current leadership has been marred by accusations of racial discrimination against Black Michiganders. It’s a pattern of disrespect, not only towards Gilchrist, but towards the same voters Michigan Democrats are going to again ask for support in 2026.

A state that gave us Motown and Idlewild, a state critical to the Underground Railroad, and a state where thousands of Black Americans moved in search of jobs and safety, is now a state that the Democratic establishment has made unsafe for Black leaders.

At this point, the question isn’t really about why Democrats are losing the backing of Black voters. It’s: why aren’t they losing it faster?

C.L. Bryant is a retired pastor, political consultant, former Senior Fellow at FreedomWorks, and former President of the Garland Chapter of the NAACP. He’s known for his award-winning film, Runaway Slave.