After Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that his presidential opponent Kamala Harris āturned Blackā for political gain, Trumpās comments have impacted the way many multirace voters are thinking about the two candidates.
āShe was only promoting Indian heritage,ā the former president said during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week. āI didnāt 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.ā
āIs she Indian or is she Black?ā he asked.
Sheās 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 Harrisā politics more than others but, overall, they told NBC News that Trumpās comments will not go unnoticed.
Iād suggest it would be best if someoneās racial background wasnāt made to be an important part of the conversation at all.
At least not unless it happens to have some relevance like in relation to places they have personally experienced or languages they speak or something like that.
Where a personās grandparents came from isnāt (or shouldnāt be) a big deal compared to most other things about that person.
It isnāt a big deal, but family histories really interest me and I guess Iām trying to find a way to ask a multiracial person about their family history without trying to make it sound like itās about race.
Like I said to someone else, itās much more informative to know that Kamala Harrisā father was not just black, but Jamaican. But if you do want to introduce race as well, itās also more informative to know that he was also multiracial, having a parent who had a European parent. I think that can show you where a person comes from in the sense of what they consider their heritage to be. Which is not so much about race as it is about where peopleās ancestors have lived in the past and what sort of cultures have been passed down through the generations.
Does that make sense?
The unfortunate problem is that it is such a big deal for far too many Americans. Makes the whole topic a much more complex minefield.
I disagree with this. A personās heritage can be important. Racists attitudes can grow out of not understand a personās culture. of course, a personās heritage can also NOT be important. People do lose connections to the homeland and this seems to be more common in America.
Heritage isnāt necessarily the same as the colour of your skin, though.