Ever since I came down out of the sky from my celebratory round off-back-hand-spring-double-back-layout-with a twist, in celebration of Kamala Harris being named Joe Biden’s VP pick, the Republicans have REALLY been pissing me off.
This time though, it’s not due to their usual checklist of hypocrisy like claiming to be the party of family values and all things Godly while embracing a president who openly admits to grabbing women by the p*ssy as a favorite pass time. No, this time, it’s far more personal. Deeply personal.
You see, as it turns out, according to many Trump supporters and a few confused black people (you know who you are), Kamala Harris is suddenly not “black enough” to qualify as the historic, first black VP candidate of a major party.
That’s odd considering she was “black enough” for Republicans during the presidential primaries when they falsely tried to define her as a privileged, black district attorney from San Francisco who recklessly locked up her own people through mass incarcerations.
Now, in an additional new strategy, Donald Trump calls her a danger to suburban homemakers (which means he has obviously never seen the videos and pics of the fantastic home-cooked meals Harris prepares for loved ones.)
Taking things to the extreme, in a recent op-ed for Newsweek, right-wing attorney John Eastman dared to suggest that Harris, born in Oakland, California, could be disqualified from being Vice President because her parents were immigrants from Jamaica and Trinidad. Eastman bizarrely claims both of Harris’ parents would have needed to be American citizens at the time of Harris’ birth for her to genuinely be a naturalized citizen. Whaaaaaat???
That is a lie. The 14th Amendment is clear; if you are born on U.S. soil, it doesn’t matter if your parents are from Jupiter, YOU are an American citizen. It’s also worth noting, Eastman has an axe to grind too because Harris was elected over him in a past political race …and I think his but is still hurt.
Eastman’s creative interpretation of the constitution would have eliminated six past presidencies – including that of Donald Trump, who was born to a Scottish mother. Eastman and Newsweek are now facing the public’s anger for its blatantly racist and birther-centric article. Nonetheless, now, the GOP is on to a new tactic, attempting to discredit Harris among millions of black voters. Their claim: she’s not really black because her parents are from Jamaica and India.
I guess since there’s no actual country called, “Blackalvania,” they are all confused?
Ok, let me dissect their depravity with some personal anecdotes. I am a proud African American man, aware and connected to the painful legacy that has brought me here in 2020. That legacy begins with The Middle Passage, and if you don’t know the term, “Google” is your friend – and not my job.
Though, I will tell you that millions upon millions of Africans (HUMANS) were kidnapped and stolen from their continent throughout The Middle Passage, delivered to North America and other territories as mere cattle to be bought and sold. By 1787 the constitution was amended to add the 3/5 Compromise which stated Africans, had no human rights, because they were not fully humans. They were deemed to be only 3/5 human; humanoid was the term.
That’s right, a bunch of white guys, the same guys who kidnapped, murdered and enslaved the Africans, went into a room, had a meeting, and decided, yup, those n*gg*rs are not human – and actually wrote it into the United States Constitution. My direct ancestors nor any other slaves had a say in the matter.
I don’t have time to present all the receipts to “White America,” outlining the ‘sins of its fathers’ pertaining to slavery. However, what I would tell them is that people who identify as African Americans have varying skin tones, and complexions, from the ultralight ‘passing for white’ like the legendary Lena Horne – to the dark magical melanin of the incomparable Grace Jones.
Slavery is the most tangible catalyst for those variances.
How, you ask?
Many of ‘White America’s’ slave-owning, great-great-great-great Grand Daddies, had a DL sweet tooth for chocolate – AKA, their female slaves. These slave owners were taken with the newness of these impossible goddess-like forms, skin like polished onyx, the blessed curves, high and taut buttocks, full bosoms, the sleek muscularly of leopards but with the grace of gazelles. Sadly, all that beauty was relegated to a life of torture, beatings, forced labor, sexual assaults, and brutal rape whenever white slave owners so desired. Let me be clear, I don’t know if Harris’ ancestry was impacted by such acts, however the point needed to be raised that this history is a direct correlation to skin color for many African Americans today.
These incidents created lighter-skinned, AFRICAN HERITAGE people and a new phenomenon of varying shades of “Black.” So, it is outrageous for white, Republican politicians, some with a family history of slave ownership themselves (Mitch McConnell), to attempt to discredit Kamala’s blackness. The descendants of the oppressors do not and WILL NOT decide who and what is “black.”
Attacking Kamala Harris for being a fair-skinned black person is beyond insulting to the 47,000,000 + African Americans in the United States today. In fact, many of us are far lighter-skinned than we should be, due to America’s dirty little history of sexually violating enslaved African females. The audacity!
So, there are the receipts!
Kamala Harris is BLACK, PERIOD. Her mother is from India – a country of brown people that England imperialized, forcefully inserting itself into their narrative. Kamala’s father is Jamaican, and England did the same thing to that beautiful Caribbean island, with its ancestry of indigenous, dark, caramel-skinned Tainos, who would often procreate with the enslaved Africans.
So, look, Republicans at the end of the day, all you need to know about Kamala Harris is that she is a brilliant, tough, and talented woman. There are rumors of GOP concerns that Mike Pence will never be able to hold his own against her in a debate – I’m inclined to agree. However, if and when they do go head-to-head on that debate stage, what will NOT be up for debate is whether or not Kamala Harris is black enough to be as great as any white man who ever served as Vice President of The United States of America. That’s all!
This piece is an opinion piece by one Contributing Writer for Instinct Magazine and may not reflect the opinion of the magazine or other Contributing Writers.
