The Democratic Party isn’t really at risk of losing these voters to the other party. But it can’t take them for granted. A Washington Post analysis found that if black support for Democrats drops from the highs of President Obama’s 93 and 95 percent showings back to the historical average of 85 percent, it could cost Democrats a net of 2.8 million votes.

Instead of really engaging black millennials where we are, the leading Democratic presidential candidates are relying on stale outreach strategies. They’re visiting historic black churches, making public appearances with civil-rights-era black leaders and failing to engage in real substantive debate on potential policy solutions to issues of racial injustice.

Recently, Mrs. Clinton marked the 60th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott with an appearance at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. In a November interview with NPR, Mr. Sanders, lamenting his weak support among blacks, again touted his record on civil rights legislation and his economic platform as a way of addressing racial inequality. And when the Clinton campaign rolled out its “African-Americans for Hillary” group, it did so with an Atlanta luncheon for black ministers, including Jesse Jackson, followed by a rally.

Students from #AUCShutItDown, a Black Lives Matter affiliate group operating throughout Atlanta’s historically black colleges, disrupted the rally with chants of “black lives matter.” In a statement regarding the protest, the group wrote critically of Mrs. Clinton’s lack of direct action and engagement: “Unfortunately, rhetoric DOES NOT save us, nor does it give confidence to black voters that we can trust Hillary to prioritize the necessity of ensuring our safety.”

Black millennials are unlike any other generation of black voters the Democratic Party has had to court. Born roughly two decades after the biggest wins of the civil rights movement, we’ve experienced both its benefits and failures. We grew up in neighborhoods and matriculated at schools that were resegregated. And while many of us participated in the election of the nation’s first black president, we’ve witnessed what feels like his inability to adequately serve black Americans in the face of continued economic challenges and systematic police brutality. As a result, we are not satisfied with the Democratic Party’s mere acknowledgment of our issues, nor are we charmed by their willingness to appear in black churches.