Kamala Harris’ dropping out of the Democratic primary has media pundits talking about ‘racism’ as though it was white Democrats who rejected Kamala Harris. The fact is, Kamala Harris was not ‘black enough’ for some black voters.
To hear the media tell it, Kamala Harris ending her quest to become the Democrat Party’s nominee for President was the result of racism and sexism.
“We can note the mistakes of the Kamala Harris campaign while recognizing that the road became tougher for her, throughout the campaign, simply because she inhabits the body and skin that she does,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Jamil Smith.
“No other candidate saw herself targeted, at as high a perch, by as many racist and sexist attacks as Harris,” Smith wrote.
What the media (or Smith) is not saying out loud, though, is if Harris was indeed the victim of racism and sexism, since only Democrats decide who their nominee is, that racism and sexism is entirely within the Democrat Party.
What the media is also not talking about, however, is that to many African American voters, Kamala Harris is not ‘black enough.’
“I hate to tell people this but there is empirical evidence of different outcomes for immigrant black people versus native born black folk,” tweeted Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, back in January.
“I don’t know who is saying what but it is disingenuous to suggest this isn’t true,” McMillan Cottom stated.
Although the conversation began much earlier with Barack Obama’s candidacy, Obama was able to overcome it. Kamala Harris, apparently, could not.
Among the African American community, though, Harris was doomed almost from the outset.
Here are some of the reasons why:
- Given her Jamaican and Indian parents, Harris is not “ADOS” [an American Descendent of Slavery]
- Harris’ ancestor was (reportedly) a slave owner in Jamaica
- As a former prosecutor and attorney general of California, Harris was accused of putting a disproportionate number of black men into California’s prisons
- Lastly, Harris is married to a white guy
As Ricky L. Jones, chair of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville, writes:
While some members of the self-involved black bourgeoisie nauseatingly praised her, younger blacks and black progressives were taking deeper, dispassionate dives into Harris’ real-world record. They didn’t like what they found.
Of particular note is the level criticism that those who identify as ‘ADOS’ heaped upon Harris–even after she dropped out.
Below is just a small sampling of the #ADOS comments on Twitter that indicate Harris had no traction among many in the black community:
So @KamalaHarris telling black people she ain't doing shit for us isn't the reason her ass got cancelled, it's because we negroes seek a white savior .. how sway!! #ADOS🇺🇸 #ADOSarmy💪🏾 https://t.co/dYd6X1iGVD
— ADOS Army (@AdosArmy) December 5, 2019
Let @KamalaHarris be a lesson to the rest of you candidates with a non genuine #ADOS agenda. Kamala ran on anti- #ADOS treachery. Announced on MLK Day @ Howard University followed by her words "I AM NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR BLACK PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY" …got her where now??🔥
— RDG (@RonUpstream) December 3, 2019
The reality is in the #KamalaHarris campaign FAIL, that ALL politicians are on notice now: ONLY a #HumanRights #BlackAgenda via #ADOS #Reparations & #BDS will win the black vote in #Election2020! pic.twitter.com/pNaPDUOfeL
— ModLover (@Modmother) December 4, 2019
Since people want to call @KamalaHarris & @BarackObama “African American” what are the native population of Blacks that built America for 400 years? I’ll wait. So this line of definition allows them to be all things, & #ados to be nothing in the country our families built. pic.twitter.com/UjUd5zEg5y
— Antonio Moore (@tonetalks) December 4, 2019
This is craziness they won’t. Chisholm ran as a marker of Civil Rights, @kamalaharris was an expression of white capital and political dysfunction. No one will remember her campaign for anything but how it triggered a national discussion on race and #ados. https://t.co/5QqwkpXQgd
— Antonio Moore (@tonetalks) December 4, 2019
What a clown show. #ADOS destroyed Kamala Harris campaign and we will destroy his if he tries to get our vote without specific policy. We were fooled by 1 immigrant in Obama it won't happen again. Try again Democrats. Al Sharpton has no credibility in the black community.
— Ronmc (@Ronmc999) December 14, 2019
“In the end, Kamala Harris left the race largely because she couldn’t secure the critical black support any black presidential candidate must have,” Ricky L. Jones concludes. “Contrary to arguments centering on pragmatism, most black folk didn’t reject her because they thought she couldn’t win. They didn’t support her because they didn’t trust her. And they were wise not to.”
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