There is something about 2020 presidential candidate, Pete Buttigeg, thatis rubbing black voters the wrong way. Among black voters in South Carolina, the first contest that the black vote is important, Mayor Pete is polling at 0%. How is a candidate that is polling 5th in the latest South Carolina poll getting ZERO percent among black voters. In order to understand why, you have to look at his time in South Bend, Indiana as mayor. There has always been something about Mayor Pete that has rubbed me the wrong way. Now I see that I am not the only one that feels that way. He talks a good game, but at times he doesn't seem genuine. Sure, he is funny when he takes his jabs at the current president, but when it comes to his policies, he has a hard time explaining them to the black community. But outside of that, his actions as mayor has played a part as well.
Darryl Boykins was making a name for himself in South Bend while on the police force. So much that he would eventually become the first black police chief in South Bend's 147 year history. In 2012, a 29 year old Pete Buttigeg was elected Mayor. During this time Boykin was having issues within his force. Four officers were recorded on the phones at the station making racial remakes towards Boykins and other black officers. Mayor Pete was informed of these tapes and jumped right into action. He fired the Boykins and hired a new police chief. The officers in question had no disciplinary action taken against them. Mayor Pete has stated that he has never listened to the tapes and was not planning on releasing them to the public either. This started the rift between Buttigeg and the black community.
Mayor Pete replaced Chief Boykins with Ron Teachman. This was Mayor Pete's guy and he backed this pick. Then came a controversy that came after Teachman. There was an incident that involved him and a fellow black officer. During a meeting of the Common Council in May 2013, they were told that Teachman had failed to assist a black officer named Dave Newton when he broke up a fight outside of a recreation center. Common Council then asked the Board of Public Safety to investigate the incident. BPS president Patrick Cottrell turned the request over to the Indiana State Police, citing the need for a nonbiased source. The ISP concluded their investigation in September, and Buttigieg reviewed the findings in a private session with the BPS. The Common Council asked to see the same report and Buttigeg pulled a Trump move, he refused. And then, after seeing the report and the findings that was found, he did not discipline Teachman. Already being on the bad side of the black community, this decision did not make it any better. And the divide between Buttigeg and the black community of South Bend became a lot wider.
These are just two examples that makes it hard for Buttigeg to court the black community. Kamala Harris gets bashed by the black community because she did her job as a prosecutor and locked black men up. But that was her job. Mayor Pete overlooked issues that affected his black officers while standing by the white officers. And on top of that he tore down houses in Black and Latino neighborhoods in order to try and improve South Bend. But why just their neighborhoods? That is why I feel Mayor Pete is hiding something and the media is not pressing him on it. Until he comes clean about his time as mayor, I cannot trust him as the President of the United States. I advise any person that is looking to support Mayor Pete to do your research and hold his feet to the fire.