It’s getting irritating seeing Black folks argue over whether or not Kamala Harris is Black or not. One thing for sure, she’s a person of color (you can see that; there’s no dispute unless you don’t deal in facts) . . . .and Black!
She can be ALL of these things at once: Black, Jamaican, Indian, Asian American, Irish
First of all, race is a social construction, in which we all have been socialized in within the lens of a White dominant society. There are many forms of identity: racial identity, cultural identity, ethnic identity, national identity, gender identity etc.
Secondly, some Black folks are touchy about their racial categories (there have been many names and labels applied to us throughout history). For some people, the terms are interchangeable and for some, not so much. I’m interchangeable, however, I prefer African-American to distinguish myself as a Black person descendent from U.S. slaves, HOWEVER, I am also Black as a member of the African diaspora, the community of people whose ancestors were Africans dispersed throughout the world by the transatlantic slave trade, especially the Americas and Caribbean (for example, Jamaica).
The “Black” experience is different depending on where you live in the world and where your ancestors were colonized, but racism is everywhere! In many places, globally, Black people are the majority, not the minority like in the United States. A Black person’s “Black lens” or perspective is also different depending on their heritage. There are Black Africans, Black Native Americans, Afro-Latinx/African-Latinx people, Afro-Caribbean/African-Caribbean people, Afro-British, Afro-German/African-German people, Afro-Canadian/African-Canadian people, bi-racial people, multi-racial people etc. etc.
Now, I’m not going to air all our “global Black family” grievances on Facebook (intra-racial conflict), but the other side of this debate is that some Black people who are not African American look down on us and think they’re better than us for various reasons (not listed here) and then you have African American Blacks who believe in the one drop rule and “take in” any and everybody, lol, or derogatorily pick on non-U.S. Blacks for having accents (I am rolling my eyes right now). We are family!
But guess what. To a non-Black person, if you LOOK Black, you’re Black. They could care less about all the important distinctions and nuances.
If you were born in the United States of America with Black skin, regardless of where your parents came from, you are Black citizen! If you immigrated here, you are a Black immigrant or Black naturalized citizen! Because guess what? When navigating White society, that’s all that many see. The color of your Black skin that comes in many, beautiful shades and hues. Regardless of your perspective of yourself and your racial, cultural, ethnic, or national heritages.
Note to White people: Black people, however, are NOT a monolithic group. Why should we have to be? Stop trying to put us in a little check box.
Note to all of us: Expand your minds. Free your minds. #Each1Teach1
Peace and blessings,
Ceci