Democrats have failed Black America

OPINION:

It’s Black History Month, and that means we must finally confront an uncomfortable truth: the profound and deliberate cultural and economic decline of the Black community over the past century, largely under the stewardship of the Democratic Party. Make no mistake: This is the largest political scandal of our lifetimes.

Since the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, Black American culture has undergone a dramatic transformation. What was once defined by strong Christian faith, commitment to family and a deep desire for educational advancement is now a fatherless, lawless, godless culture. It dishonors our ancestors, grieves the heart of God and provides no sustainable future for our children.

Family

From the 1960s to now, the Black family structure in the United States has shifted from nearly 80% two-parent households to approximately 80% fatherless homes, and there has not been a single sustained national initiative to reverse the trend.

Five decades of data confirm what common sense already tells us: Children raised in single-parent households face significantly higher risks of academic failure, social instability, financial hardship and entanglement with the criminal justice system than their peers raised in intact families.

For political power and personal financial gain, influential individuals and institutions within the Black community have been complicit in this cultural collapse. Notably absent has been any sustained outcry from the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, the National Urban League or Black Lives Matter.

The outcomes are undeniable. In nearly every major inner city governed by Democrats, political leaders and their allies grow wealthy and powerful while the masses remain trapped in generational poverty, fatherless homes, and public schools that graduate students who are functionally illiterate. Meanwhile, many of these same leaders have intact families, expensive homes and children who often attend private schools.

Wealth

As of 2025, Black Americans have a median household wealth of approximately $24,520, compared with $250,400 for non-Hispanic White households. Seven of the 10 states with the largest racial wealth gaps are Democratic-led states, including my home state of Minnesota.

By contrast, seven of the 10 states with the smallest wealth gaps are Republican-led states — another inconvenient fact rarely acknowledged by legacy media or universities.

Education

Public schools are increasingly failing to prepare children for success in life. Instead, many have become ideological training grounds for a leftist political agenda at the direct expense of Black children’s futures.

Too many Black youngsters today are raised without a sense of hope or expectation. In 2019, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reported that Minnesota has the largest academic achievement gap between Black and White students of any state in the nation. This failure is not unique to Minnesota but is the case in many Democratic-led states. In Baltimore, a group of Black families recently sued the school district for failing to educate their children.

Where do we go from here? After extracting decades of political loyalty from Black Americans to secure electoral victories, Democratic leadership now appears to be shifting its focus, turning to illegal immigrants as the next constituency to fuel the next half-century of political power.

Black Americans do not need permission from politicians or bureaucrats to pursue restoration and a course correction. Here are practical steps that can begin healing and transformation:

• Vote for candidates who support policies that help you and your family, regardless of what your friends and family might say. Most often, that candidate will be a Republican.
• Restore vocational and technical education so students graduate with marketable skills.
• Teach honest history about the consequences of socialism and communism compared with the freedoms and prosperity enabled by capitalism.
• Promote entrepreneurial clubs beginning in middle school to encourage innovation and economic independence.
• Reform tax policies to incentivize marriage and the nuclear family.

This is exactly why I’m running for governor of Minnesota. I’ve lived the American dream, growing up in the slums of Harlem, New York, and a trailer park in Oklahoma. I delivered pizzas to put myself through college. I went on to serve as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army and built a successful career.

I’ve been married to my wife, Sheila, for 40 years and have five wonderful children. That path was possible only in the United States.

I wouldn’t have been able to do that in today’s Democratic-run Minnesota.

I’m running for governor to save Minnesota and end the biggest political scandal in recent history. Still, it’s not just Minnesota. If these steps are embraced by leaders nationwide, then we can create a renaissance within the Black community: an explosion of prosperity, strength and cultural renewal within a single generation.

• Kendall Qualls is a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate and the founder of Take Charge.