The phrase “winning over Black voters” can make a community sound like a political territory waiting to be captured. Reuters’ reporting on democratic-socialist candidates points to a more useful reality: Black voters are evaluating candidates through practical concerns such as housing, healthcare, wages and the cost of living, not simply ideological labels.

That should not surprise anyone. Black political behavior has never been as simple as party strategists often describe it. Age, geography, class, faith, gender and local experience all shape what people want from government. Younger voters may be more open to a particular language of structural change while older voters may be more skeptical of untested coalitions. Both can still want cheaper housing and better care.

Black women in particular have been praised so often for “saving democracy” that praise can become a substitute for accountability. A campaign that depends on our turnout should be able to explain what it will materially change in our lives.

No movement is entitled to a constituency because its theory sounds righteous. Voters are allowed to ask the most practical question in politics: what happens for us if you win?