Kamala Harris "Indian or Black" Attacks

Overview

Kamala Harris "Indian or Black" Attacks refer to Donald Trump's statements at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention in Chicago on July 31st, 2024. During the event, Trump asserted that Kamala Harris "turned Black" a "couple of years ago" and asked his interviewers, "So is she Indian or is she Black?" Republicans picked up the talking point following Trump's interview, sharing older headlines that referred to her as the "first Indian-American Senator," and pointed to her Indian mother in an attempt to imply that Harris is an opportunist who presents herself as different races when it's to her benefit. Many Democrats and internet users pushed back on this narrative, asserting that Harris is biracial and has always presented herself as both Indian and Black as the controversy spread online and inspired discourse.

Background

On July 31st, 2024, former President Donald Trump attended the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and fielded questions from veteran journalists Rachel Scott from ABC, Harris Faulkner from Fox News and Kadia Goba from Semafor.

When asked by Scott if Trump thought it was acceptable for some of his Republican colleagues to label Harris a "DEI hire," Trump repeatedly asked for a definition of "DEI" before launching into an attack on Harris (clip seen below).^[1] In his answer, Trump said:

She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. 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. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?

Kamala Harris is an American with an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Harris was born in Oakland, California and attended school in Berkley before her mother moved their family to Canada for work. Harris went on to attend Howard University, a historically Black college, and has often spoken about both her Indian and Black heritage.

In a 2020 interview with the New Yorker, Harris said that her mother Shyamala "knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women."^[2]

Developments

Many Republicans and conservative internet users shared what they claimed as supposed evidence of Kamala Harris embracing her Indian heritage more than her Black heritage in the following hours and days. On July 31st, 2024, X^[3] user @mazemoore wrote, "Well look at this. A few years ago CNN did an entire segment on Kamala's Indian heritage. They even had an Indian woman do the reporting.😂," gathering over 54,000 likes in a day (seen below).

Also on July 31st, X^[4] user @DiligentDenizen shared video footage of a Trump rally where a Business Insider^[5] headline from 2016 was being projected on the jumbotron. The headline reads, "California's Kamala Harris becomes first Indian-American US senator," with the post gathering over 2,000 likes in a day (seen below).

Later on July 31st, 2024, Donald Trump posted a video of actress Mindy Kaling and Kamala Harris cooking, where Harris can be seen agreeing to Mindy's comment when she says, "You are Indian, and I don't know if everybody knows that." The post was reposted to X^[6] that same day (shown below), with Trump writing, "Crazy Kamala is saying she's Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!"

Trump also posted a photo of Harris visiting her maternal grandparents in India, writing, "Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago! Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated." The post was also reposted to X on July 31st (shown below).

Online Reactions

Many internet users posted jokes about the Trump campaign's tactic of painting Harris as an opportunist who decides her race at will, with X^[7] user @RadishHarmers writing on July 31st, 2024, "There's no such thing as being biracial. It's just some other race. Black + white = Arab. Chinese + Indian = Mexican. That's how it works. Kamala Harris is Sentinelese." The post gathered over 16,000 likes in a day (seen below, top).

Also on July 31st, X^[8] user @ArmandDoma responded to Republicans sharing the image of Harris with her maternal grandparents as "evidence" of her Indian ancestry with a picture of J.D. Vance dressed in Indian attire, writing, "oh my god JD Vance is INDIAN!!!" and gathering over 120,000 likes in a day (seen below, bottom).

On July 31st, X^[10] user @ABrownism posted a clip from Michael Jackson's song "Black or White," gathering over 100,000 likes with the caption, "Kamala in Trump’s imagination like:" in only two days.

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External References