Kamala Harris and the problem with ‘political blackness’

The issue of racial authenticity has become a national topic of conversation for the second consecutive presidential election. In 2020, Joe Biden opened a can of worms with his infamous line, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

At the time, Biden’s gaffe sparked a discussion on “political blackness,” a phenomenon driven home by a now-deleted tweet from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, who said: “There is a difference between being politically black and being racially black. I am not defending anyone, but we all know this and should stop pretending that we don’t.”

To the left, 'diversity' is when people who look different all say the same thing.

Recently, Donald Trump caused a major controversy when he stated that Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India, “happened to turn black” recently. Despite the strong rebuke from Harris supporters in the media, Trump’s question touches on conversations on race, ethnicity, identity, nationality, lineage, and culture that are already brewing within the black community.

One could argue we should see the fact that being black is a net benefit for a multiethnic American politician as a sign of progress. That said, the bipartisan hyper-focus on race in this election is deeply unhealthy for our politics. American voters deserve to hear about policies that advance their interests, not the identities of our elected officials.

It doesn’t matter whether Kamala Harris is 1/8 black or 100% black. I wouldn’t vote for her because she represents a party that has a worldview and values that are completely antithetical to mine. Democrats believe politicians can manufacture reality by manipulating language. They believe their words can make a man into a woman, control the weather, and turn an unwanted child in the womb from a baby to a “clump of cells.”

It’s also a party that believes masculinity is toxic and feminism is empowering. And based on its rhetoric and policy, her party believes women and children do just as well in life when they are supported by elected officials and unelected bureaucrats as when a man is in his rightful place as the leader of his home.

When Democrats host their national convention later this month, there is no chance that a pro-life Christian who believes in traditional marriage will be invited to deliver a message on the importance of family. To the left, “diversity” is when people who look different all say the same thing. This is why choosing a Democrat to run for president is an exercise in selecting the preferred avatar for radical policies.

Harris fits the left’s preferred identity categories, but Democrats can push gender ideology and abortion on demand in any skin suit. The party found a way to turn Joe Biden — a man old enough to have had actual friends in the Ku Klux Klan — into a trans “ally” who hired a man who thinks he’s a woman to be the face of our public health system. These are the types of issues that voters need to hear about this election cycle, not whether Kamala Harris is going to do DNA testing to find out her African ancestry.

I can’t stand the way the left weaponizes identity for its own political benefit. Progressives use race and sex as both sword and shield — touting the historic nature of a candidate’s identity while labeling the criticism that comes with public office “racist” and “sexist.” Further, the wealthy politicians who oppose school choice have no problem consigning poor black parents to failing government schools that their children would not get within 100 yards of unless they were doing a volunteer program for “at-risk youth.”

This is the sleight of hand that makes voters think the party has their interests in mind when the melanin levels of the candidates match those of the voters. The left is constantly talking about the diversity of the Democratic Party, but what good is voting for people who share your skin color if they don't share your values or promote your agenda? The representation that matters is based on political interests, not personal background. The president is on the ballot, not the one-drop rule.