After Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that his presidential opponent Kamala Harris “turned Black” for political gain, Trump’s comments have impacted the way many multirace voters are thinking about the two candidates.
“She was only promoting Indian heritage,” the former president said during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week. “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.”
“Is she Indian or is she Black?” he asked.
She’s 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 Harris’ politics more than others but, overall, they told NBC News that Trump’s comments will not go unnoticed.
Yup I’m a quarter white, and watching my racist school system sit me down and tell me I couldn’t put white on my SAT survey was eye opening. They were so concerned that they needed to see pictures of my parents and have written proof of my heritage.
I’m Italian and just the thought of an official form asking for your race looks completely crazy and fucked up. Also, it would be completely illegal here.
Why are the US so f-cked up?
The US has a very complicated history with race. And demographic data is important in the right hands to resolve issues our history created, but in the wrong hands…
I was so hoping you were going to say that they discouraged you from putting white so that it opened you up for diversity-based scholarships. I am so disappointed to hear that was not the case. What they did is really messed up.