The Democrats are extremely possessive when it comes to "their" black voters, and they are miffed that Donald Trump is asking African Americans for their votes–even though Democratic policies have created to a widespread culture of dependence among African Americans.

It's almost comic to see how much they regard African Americans as belonging to them. Jason Riley captures this:

Donald Trump visited a black neighborhood in Philadelphia on Friday and a black church in Detroit on Saturday. And liberals went berserk.

If he’d known Democrats were so fearful of GOP black outreach, perhaps Mr. Trump wouldn’t have waited until two months before Election Day to start campaigning in inner cities.

Better late than never, and Republicans as a whole have been timid about making the pitch to black voters.

Meanwhile, a Clinton campaign official called Trump's visit to a black church “an offensive gimmick.” Really? Democrats are that possessive? And what do Democratic policies do for this constituency?

During a roundtable discussion with businessmen, elected officials and clergy in North Philadelphia, Mr. Trump listened to stories about violent crime and bad schools. Speaking before a congregation at the Great Faith Ministries church in Detroit, he referenced “all those closed stores” he saw while riding through the neighborhood “and people sitting down on the sidewalk, and no jobs, and no activity. We’ll get it turned around.” Mr. Trump said “nothing is more sad than when we sideline young black men with unfulfilled potential, tremendous potential,” and he added that safe communities and good schools would be a priority of his administration. He called for a new civil rights agenda that includes school choice.

. . .

Hillary Clinton and her campaign surrogates can brag about giving black communities far more face-time than the GOP, but they can’t brag about the results of liberal policies. Democrats are calling Mr. Trump names because they can’t defend their track record. Homicides in Philadelphia rose last year and are up 6% this year. In 2015, Detroit students scored the lowest among big-city school districts on national math and reading tests.

Minority children with access to school vouchers and charter schools are narrowing the achievement gap, while Democrats and teachers unions are working hand in glove to limit school choice. Mrs. Clinton has adopted the provably false union line that charters get better academic outcomes by accepting only the most motivated students. And the new Democratic platform drafted in July proclaims support for “high-quality public charter schools,” so long as they don’t “replace or destabilize” traditional public schools. In other words, the party supports charter schools so long as no one attends them.

Mr. Trump has been polling in the low single digits among blacks, and his current black outreach is probably too little, too late if the goal is to win significant black support. But Democrats aren’t very concerned about the percentage of blacks who support the Republican. Their bigger worry is the level of overall black turnout. The political left is furious at Mr. Trump for campaigning on their turf because he could soften support for Mrs. Clinton. They are terrified that too many of the black voters who turned out for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 may decide to stay home.

Black twelfth graders are several grade levels behind their white counterparts in reading and math. School choice could go a long way towards closing this gap. But the Democrats are in lockstep with the teachers' unions, which oppose competition in education.

Whatever you think about Trump, it is great to see a Republican nominee trying to make the case for policies that would be of service to the black community.