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Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is facing a flurry of attacks on her racial identity. Here’s more about her background.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, is facing a reprisal of attacks from some conservatives and their surrogates on her racial and cultural heritage, ethnic background and gender.
A list recently shared across social media titled “Kamala Harris Facts,” contains wrong or missing-context claims about her background, including that she is “Not African American — Indian & Jamaican.” These attacks — similar to ones raised when she was named President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020 — misrepresent Harris’ heritage.
On television and social media, some people have also falsely and repeatedly claimed Harris isn’t eligible for the presidency because of her family’s immigrant background. Harris was born in 1964 in Oakland, California, and as someone born in the U.S., is constitutionally eligible to be president.
All of this reflects a poor understanding of history and the fluid nature and various interpretations of racial identity in the United States, race and politics experts say.
“The approach to Harris in this instance, the attempt to ‘other’ her, is a common practice in American politics,” said Keneshia Grant, a political science professor at Howard University. “These tactics will continue because they work. People have to prepare themselves to check their own biases and fears and use logic and facts to guide their decision-making when these kinds of attacks occur.”
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