The Personal and Political Identity of Kamala Harris

Written by Kaila Love

From the Congressional Black Caucus to Charlamagne tha God, there was a lot of pressure put on Presidential candidate Joe Biden to pick a black woman as his running mate, so some were thrilled when he announced his pick for Kamala Harris while others maintained “that’s not what we meant.” It begs the question, is a black representative enough to create meaningful change for the black community? 

Now, let me start by saying that Kamala has broken many glass ceilings in regards to both her gender and her ethnicity. As the daughter immigrants – a Jamaican father and a South Indian mother – she’s the first black woman DA in California, first black person and woman attorney general in CA, and first South Asian Senator in all of the United States. As an alumni of Howard, she is also the first graduate of an HBCU to be on a major ticket. 

Despite these accolades, or perhaps because of them, Kamala is already receiving harsh criticism. For example, President Trump has called her a “madwoman” who “is so angry” – feeding into the harmful stereotype of the “angry black woman” when ironically it’s conservatives who are big mad. Already memes are surfacing showing “Joe and The Hoe 2020” – an distasteful and inaccurate attack on her identity as a woman. 

While there are many things that one can criticize Kamala on – her gender and race should not be any of them. It’s important that we separate her personal identity from her political one. On a personal level, she has made strides that at a point in time black women could only dream of. On a political level, she’s built her Attorney General campaign by criminalizing the black community with funding she received from the Trump family. While one of her current platform points is to marajuana reform, as District Attorney she criminalized black families in California for marijuana infractions and even school attendance. 

Perhaps most concerning about Kamala’s track record, especially in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, is her pro-cop mentality which is reflected in her refusing to prosecute the cops who murdered Alan Blueford, Mario Woods, Izzel Ford, and many others while actively working against legislation that would increase accountability for police violence. This is all while admitting she’s never known a black man who hasn’t been racially profiled or unfairly stopped and acknowledging that the American justice system operates differently based on race. 

So what are we to do in this situation? Once again we are left with the dilemma we face  in almost every election – choosing between the lesser of two evils in a system that wasn’t built for and doesn’t serve us. However, four more years of Trump simply cannot be an option. If that becomes the reality, we could easily be looking at a facist regime. While I’m not thrilled at any of my voting options, at least under the centrist government of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, organizing is still possible. Her flip-flopping on issues like marajuana reform shows that she can be pressured into changing her position and ultimately her legislation. HustleTV News