Harris’s Presidential Candidacy Receives Blacklash
posted by Keyona Smith | March 2, 2019 | In NewsSen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., officially announced her run for the 2020 presidential election on January 21 in an interview on Good Morning America. The announcement was on the anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s presidential announcement, who was the first African American woman to run for president. Following Harris, a handful of candidates have thrown their names into the ringer including Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., author Marianne Williamson and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
Almost immediately following the announcement of Howard University’s graduate running for president open fire came from Black Twitter attacking her Blackness, pointing to the fact that she is married to a white man and questioning her motives while she was district attorney of San Francisco in the 1990s and 2000s.
Black Twitter is a large network of Black users that utilize their power of connectedness to draw attention to issues that affect the greater Black population. According to The Atlantic, this social media group is responsible for focusing the nation’s attention on the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
However, Black Twitter’s attack on Harris focused on her Blackness, and not so much her platform, following her visit to the popular radio show, The Breakfast Club as part of her rallying rounds. Harris sat down with DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God, and Angela Yee to discuss her platform and the questions that everyone wanted answered, specifically: Who is Kamala Harris, and why should we vote for her?
When questioned about her record as district attorney, Harris said: “Look, I’m not going to ever apologize for saying, when a child is molested, or a woman is raped, or when one human being kills another human being that there should be serious consequences.” She continued: “I also believe strongly that the criminal justice system in America is deeply flawed, and it must be reformed.”
In an effort to debunk “meme myths” Charlamagne started reading her newly surfacing memes to give her a chance to clear the air about her “Black card” with immigrant parents or if her record for placing young Black males behind bars was actually number one in her state. Harris unapologetically answered the questions about her parents and her upbringing while reminding him that this is the same thing that they did to President Barack Obama when he first ran for president in 2008.
For Harris and candidates alike, there are voters who want to hear what she has to offer and not vote based off speculation.
Fayetteville State University Honors Professor Kelisha Graves shared that she does not vote according to people or parties, but their policies. “There are tons of people jumping into the field. I have not made a decision on Kamala Harris yet in terms of where I stand. I’ll continually be exploring the views of both Democrats and Republicans. I am particularly interested in what their Black agenda is,” said Prof. Graves. “I think she is a strong candidate. I think she has charisma, just in terms of the enthusiasm and passion that she has been able to illicit out of people. She brings a unique perspective to the playing field being the daughter of immigrants.”
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