Racial, gender politics dominate the theme of first week of Harris' campaign

The first week of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign saw her supporters lean heavily into racial and identity politics, with surrogates emphasizing her own biracial background and holding race-and-gender-specific outreach events.

Harris’s father, Donald Jasper Harris, is Jamaican while her mother, the late Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was Indian. Both of her parents both immigrated to the U.S. in the latter half of the 20th century. The vice president previously stated that her mother raised her as a black woman, according to the Associated Press. But the media has varyingly emphasized the her diverse ethnic background throughout her career.

Harris became the presumptive Democratic standard bearer last week when President Joe Biden announced that he would not seek reelection and endorsed her to succeed him as the party nominee. Thus far, she has faced no challenger for the slot, and most of the party’s heavyweights have thrown their support behind her. In less than a week, moreover, she reportedly secured the support of enough delegates to officially clinch the nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

Within the first week, she also managed to raise roughly $200 million to support her effort to keep a Democrat in the White House, The Hill reported. Driving at least some of that fundraising haul has been the campaign’s efforts to emphasize her identity and gender to appeal to supporters on the basis of racial and gender issues.

"White Women: Answer the Call"

Last Thursday, a pro-Harris Zoom call titled “White Women: Answer the Call”, reportedly attracted roughly 164,000 participants and raised about $1.8 million on the vice president’s behalf.

The call itself saw many participants explicitly address race, largely addressing the concept of “white privilege” and insisting that the attendees had a moral obligation to speak up for persons of color.

Organized by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, the call featured celebrity participants such as Pink, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and actress Connie Britton. During the call, Britton made a quip about “Karens for Kamala,” referencing an often-pejorative term for middle-class white women who act in an overly demanding manner.

Watts on Friday announced that her group had continued to draw in donations after the call and that the total figure raised from participants on that call alone had risen to $8.5 million.

Activist Andrea Gibson, for instance, called the event “a gathering of people with white privilege, discussing what we are going to do, what we are going to use our privilege for,” according to Reason.

“We are here because… BIPOC women have tapped us in as white women to step up, listen, and get involved this election season,” said influencer Arielle Fodor. “This is a really important time and we all need to use our voices and influence for the greater good.”

“As white women, we need to use our privilege to make positive changes,” she went on. “If you find yourself talking over or speaking for BIPOC individuals or, God forbid, correcting them, just take a beat and instead we can put our listening ears on.”

🔥🚨DEVELOPING: 16 white liberals from “White Women for Kamala Harris” met on Zoom to criticize other white women that criticize Black women in any way.

“As white women we need to use our privilege to make positive changes.”

Former teacher turned “influencer” infantilizes the… pic.twitter.com/85qtgc4hfY

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) July 29, 2024

"Win with Black Women"

A separate Zoom call held the day Biden dropped out, saw the Win with Black Women coalition quickly seize on the black element of her identity and saw the group raise roughly $1.5 million and attracted approximately 44,000 participants.

“We made history together tonight and raised over $1.5 million in just 3 hrs!” the group announced last Monday.

“We develop message, we develop strategy. We show that we not only can we raise money, but we can inspire others to raise and give as well,” coalition founder Jotaka Eaddy told Politico. Meeting notes obtained by the outlet pointed to organizers sympathizing with Harris as “our sister” and claiming that Trump world was “chasing” the vice president.

Watts credited Win with Black Women for providing the example for her own Zoom call. Other demographic-specific groups have held comparable fundraisers on Harris’s behalf. One such Zoom call addressed black men and reportedly raised $1.3 million, according to ABC News. A "South Asian Women for Harris" call, moreover, took place last Wednesday and raised more than $260,000.

"White Dudes for Harris"

The Harris campaign organized an 8 p.m. Zoom call, titled “White Dudes for Harris” with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that reportedly attracted up to 75,000 registrations ahead of time.

The messaging around the event appeared to channel themes from Critical Race Theory, with event organizers highlighting the role of white men in both the light and darker sides of American history.

“We’re coming together to create a space of trust where White Dudes can support each other and work to elect Kamala Harris the next President of the United States,” event organizer Ross Morales told the New York Post.

Morales also warned of the “culture of toxic entitlement surrounding Donald Trump” and urged white men to “be honest with ourselves and each other about the role we’ve played in our nation’s history — good and bad.”

“DEI Hire”: Insult or boast?

Some Republicans have objected to Harris’ emphasizing her minority and multiracial status for gain, contending that President Joe Biden had selected her as his running in part due to her racial background and in hopes of appealing to minority communities.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., for instance, deemed Harris a “DEI hire,” referencing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that have drawn scrutiny over their perceived tendency to promote opportunities for unqualified persons on the basis of their racial backgrounds.

“The incompetency level is at an all-time high in Washington. The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president,” he posted last week. The sentiment has Republican leadership concerned about the line of attack, however, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged lawmakers to focus their criticisms on “policy not personality,” according to Axios.

But some industry experts think the Harris camp's foray into heavily racialized politics and the emphasis on "white guilt" could present a "liability" for them. Speaking on the John Solomon Reports podcast, pollster John McLaughlin indicated that "it all says is, you know, [they] didn't have a candidate who was picked for qualifications or her expertise or her strength, or her successful record."

Objections to referring to her as a "DEI hire" are often met with accusations of racism, while at the same time, Harris comes from an administration that has quite openly boasted about its DEI policies. “To me, the values of diversity, equality, inclusion are literally — and this is not kidding — the core strengths of America. That’s why I’m proud to have the most diverse administration in history that taps into the full talents of our country. And it starts at the top with the vice president,” President Biden said in May.

Harris herself has reportedly said in April during a visit to Atlanta promoting DEI programs, “We have so many people with incredible ideas, they are innovative, hardworking. For most folks, we lack access to the resources that will feed those ambitions,” reported iNews. 

"It's not because what you stand for, it's because they pick and support people by who they are," McLaughlin added. "And I think Americans -- that goes against our whole society, in terms of opportunity, in terms of being able to succeed goes against the American dream. And, you know, you've had three and a half years of failure under Biden and Harris."

"You're watching DEI in action here where, you know, she was picked because she happened to be an African American woman," McLaughlin went on. " And then, you know, when you look at the people, she's talking about selecting [as her running mate], it's just boring white guys."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X.