After Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that his presidential opponent Kamala Harris “turned Black” for political gain, Trump’s comments have impacted the way many multirace voters are thinking about the two candidates.
“She was only promoting Indian heritage,” the former president said during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black.”
“Is she Indian or is she Black?” he asked.
She’s both.
Harris, whose mother was Indian and her father is Jamaican, would make history if she is elected president. She would be both the first female president and the first Asian American president.
Multiracial American voters say they have heard similar derogatory remarks about their identities their whole lives. Some identify with Harris’ politics more than others but, overall, they told NBC News that Trump’s comments will not go unnoticed.
Why is this hard for people to understand‽
Like I’m white as the first 41 presidents, but it’s always just seemed fucking obvious that mixed race and mixed ethnicity people are just simultaneously both.
Even for white people - haven’t you ever heard someone say something like, “I’m German and Irish on my mother’s side”?
The idea of having two different heritages is completely common and obvious. It’s not that Trump or other Republicans are having trouble wrapping their heads around the concept. It’s a racist attack, plain and simple.
I’m still confused as to who they are trying to convince that Harris isn’t really black. Whose vote would change from Harris to Trump based on Trump claiming she isn’t really black? Or, if he’s not after votes, what will believing she’s not really black change for how his own followers see things if he loses?
Or does he think he’s out of the water as far as his legal troubles go and maybe he’s just trying to exit gracefully without making his base turn on him by making it look like he’s still fighting?
Trump was making modest gains with black voters, who have since surged in support for Harris. His message was as simple as “She’s not really one of you” because he’s upset he’s losing support.
Trump is butthurt anytime someone doesn’t like him - any individual, any constituency. It’s just the same narcissism he always shows.
Yeah ok, that angle does make a kind of sense. Since he was getting support from them, he assumed they thought like him and that this would be an effective argument.
Unfortunately, the experience of being mixed race is a bit more complicated than that.
There are several groups that see me as a potential member but it’s usually qualified with an implied “half-member”. There’s really no group that looks at me and instinctively says, “One of us.”
It’s also fun being with one group, and that one group is racist against the other group.
And then going to the other group and that other group is racist to the first one.
Ope, yeah that must really suck