By Duchess Harris
With Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, Republicans are rebuilding a campaign strategy that for months focused on running against President Joe Biden. One emerging theme asserts that Harris laughs too much at inappropriate moments – part of a broader argument that Harris is “weird.”
“I call her ‘laughing Kamala,’” former President Donald Trump said at a rally in Michigan on July 24. “Have you ever watched her laugh? She is crazy. You can tell a lot by a laugh. … She is nuts.”
As a professor of American studies with a focus on race and politics, I know that Black women in the U.S. have a history of struggle against violence and oppression. And too often when we experience joy, and show it, ridicule follows. We are said to be too loud, too emotional – well, too “Black women.”
History shows that this is a familiar dog whistle. Black women have been called out as sexually provocative Jezebels, emasculating Sapphires or servile, nurturing Mammys in popular culture. Those labels clearly don’t fit Harris, so Trump has created a new epithet: “crazy laughing.”
Invisibility has long haunted Black girls and women. In response, their choices, from dress to spirituality to activist groups, often center on making themselves visible. They do this to highlight injustice and to offer a vision of justice based on their experiences.
As I see it, Black women deserve for some of that visibility to be joyful. In this realm, Harris is paving the way.
Elation in struggle
Many public views of Harris don’t reflect Trump’s framing. The vice president’s anecdotes, smile, laugh, and even – shocker – dancing in public have inspired a tidal wave of fan posts and videos celebrating her energy and what media scholar Jamie Cohen describes as her “endearing awkwardness.”
For these observers, Harris embodies the idea of Black joy – a national movement that started in 2020 after George Floyd was killed. As NAACP Legal Defense Fund senior writer Lindsey Norward explains:
“Black joy is an essential part of the complete story of Black people in their fight for dignity and reclamation … the unfettered ability to go and enjoy all of the good things about life.”
Act of self-definition
In a book that I co-edited with Wake Forest University political science professor Julia Jordan-Zachery, we examined a related concept: Black Girl Magic. Our book described how Black girls and women maintain their humanity in the face of hostility by fostering community, countering invisibility and creating spaces for freedom.
Sometimes this means drawing attention to their struggles. One essay in the book cites African American Policy Forum executive director Kimberlé Crenshaw, explaining the hashtag #SayHerName, which was coined to raise awareness of Black women victims of police brutality and anti-Black violence.
“Although Black women are routinely killed, raped and beaten by the police, their experiences are rarely foregrounded in popular understandings of police brutality,” Crenshaw wrote. “Yet, inclusion of Black women’s experiences in social movements, media narratives, and policy demands around policing and police brutality is critical to effectively combating racialized state violence for Black communities and other communities of color.”
On July 23, 2024, Harris released a statement expressing grief at the “senseless death” of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot in her Illinois home by a sheriff’s deputy who responded to a report of a prowler. The deputy has been fired and charged with murder, based on bodycam footage from another deputy that showed him threatening Massey after she rebuked him and then shooting her.
“Sonya Massey deserved to be safe,” Harris wrote. “The disturbing footage released yesterday confirms what we know from the lived experiences of so many – we have much work to do to ensure that our justice system fully lives up to its name.” In other words, Harris said Massey’s name.
Writing her own story
Our book argued that in the age of Trump, whom Black women almost universally see as hostile to their interests, finding the balance between humanity and magic is more important than ever for Black girls and women.
As then-first lady Michelle Obama said in a speech at the March 2015 Black Girls Rock awards, young Black girls often hear “voices that tell you that you’re not good enough, that you have to look a certain way, act a certain way; that if you speak up, you’re too loud; if you step up to lead, you’re being bossy.”
Around this time, author and social media influencer CaShawn Thompson began tweeting “#BlackGirlMagic” because, she said, “magic is something that people don’t always understand. Sometimes our accomplishments might seem to come out of thin air, because a lot of times, the only people supporting us are other Black women.”
The hashtag went mainstream at the 2016 Black Entertainment Television Awards, where actor and activist Jesse Williams delivered an impassioned discourse about race in America. He ended with a subtle nod:
“(T)he burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That’s not our job, alright – stop with all that … the thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.”
Williams was respectfully referencing the #BlackGirlMagic movement, alluding to the fact that Black girls’ and women’s identities include resistance against narratives that exclude them and a willingness to define themselves for themselves.
Harris has confronted this challenge many times through her career as a district attorney, state attorney general, senator and vice president. Now she has to invent herself again as a presidential candidate. And even with a large campaign staff, Harris will have to do this for herself.
As Nobel laureate Toni Morrison observed, the Black woman has “nothing to fall back on: not maleness, not whiteness, not ladyhood, not anything. And out of the profound desolation of her reality she may very well have invented herself.”
Our book highlighted the emotional fortitude that Black women draw on to accomplish so many feats while breaking unfathomable barriers. It’s no exaggeration to call what they do magic.
Harris will need plenty of support for a successful campaign – from Black women and many others. There will be serious issues to debate, from border security to foreign policy to the economy. But Harris also has a real opportunity to contrast her humor and positive energy with a very dark vision from the GOP – without letting them dictate when it’s OK for her to laugh.
Duchess Harris is Professor of American Studies at Macalester College.
The Conversation arose out of deep-seated concerns for the fading quality of our public discourse and recognition of the vital role that academic experts could play in the public arena. Information has always been essential to democracy. It’s a societal good, like clean water. But many now find it difficult to put their trust in the media and experts who have spent years researching a topic. Instead, they listen to those who have the loudest voices. Those uninformed views are amplified by social media networks that reward those who spark outrage instead of insight or thoughtful discussion. The Conversation seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, to raise up the voices of true experts and to make their knowledge available to everyone. The Conversation publishes nightly at 9 p.m. on FlaglerLive.
Land of no turn signals says says
In the GOP’S defense, she’s easy to mock.
The dude says
And your would be great MAGA king is not?
Puhlease…
Actually he makes catching up on the news fun again… daily I can log on and point and laugh at the addled old orange fool as he windmills and riffs on about nothing while ginning up the olds, the groypers, and the uneducated, and as his spokesman Cheung (2024’s Baghdad Bob) lashes out in all directions defending his octogenarian candidate and flailing at shadows.
Meanwhile his demographic (the olds) is literally shrinking daily via attrition, as our future president’s is growing due to all the yoots finally getting excited about a candidate again.
Good times.
Jim says
One candidate finds joy and laughter in life and the other drones on about the end of country, blah, blah, blah and glares at everybody and everything.
I don’t make my voting decisions based on who laughs and who doesn’t but part of Kamala Harris’ appeal is that she does find something to be happy about.
I preferred to deal with optimists instead of pessimists in my working years. More seemed to get done. I’ll vote for Kamala in November for a number of reasons as well as this!
You Trumpers can go stand together under the perpetual dark cloud your Dear Leader inhabits and be miserable for as long as you want!
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Look, you can’t deny that given a century plus of institutional racism and ridiculous caricatures portrayed by the right, black women do not have it easy whatsoever. Reagan used the lie of the welfare queen, Romney used the lie of the Obamaphone, conservative dingbats ran with it and all it did was to perpetuate institutional stereotypes. Yes. This is all true. Today, the dogwhistle is DEI. Everyone knows what DEI means when it’s used in the context of someone politically polarized.
Harris’ dad was Jamaican, a PhD economist, and was tenured at Stanford to the point that he is an emeritus there. Her mother had a PhD in nutrition and endocrinology from UCB, working at Lady Davis, McGill university, and ended up at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Harris herself went to Howard, in DC, and got a degree in political science and economics. She got her JD from Hastings. She’s worth at least $6 million dollars.
Any talk of humble beginnings is frankly, bullshit. Sure, she laughs and seems fun. I’ll be she was laughing and was really fun when she was involved in blocking evidence that would have freed lots of people from prison. She was probably sensibly chuckling when she fought payments to people wrongfully convicted in California. She was full of guffaws when she argued against releasing minimum security prisoners because they were just too valuable to the state labor pool. She was doing the proverbial lmao when literally blocked the release of daniel larsen, an innocent man, from prison.
She’s done a lot to ally herself with the democrats and the republicans, and she’s had it tough.
Atwp says
Land of no turn signals, Donald Trump is ez to mock, please don’t forget that. Black women are the backbone to the Black Families. They are very strong people, please Land of no signals don’t forget that. White women are the most protected people in this country and perhaps the world, Black women are the least protected, I wonder why. I love our Black Women, they are strong and very beautiful people.
Atbp says
I dont agree with your statement about white women and it really doesnt phase me in the least because I have read many of your racist rants in the past. I know exactly what you are, however, you are absolutely right about the woman being the backbone of the black family. The 2018 National Vital Statistics Report indicated that 69.4% of black children were born to unwed mothers. I dont get any joy out of reading those statistics in the least. Families with a father that is involved in the raising of their children are more likely to succeed. Perhaps you should look for solutions to this problem instead of irrationally blaming others for your shortcomings.
The Geode says
…and that is the reason why our “black communities” are shite. there’s no BLACK MEN to teach and guide little girls or instill discipline and order in little boys. That is why I grew up with a FATHER and mother in the 70s has a vastly different mindset from you who only had a baby mama. MEN are “protectors and providers”, not section-8, not welfare, and NOT choosing a MAN incapable of providing because the very people you claim to hate allows those making bad decisions to benefit WITHOUT the need for a “man” …not a BLACK one, anyway
Laurel says
Atwp: White women are NOT the most protected people in the world. By stating that, shows how much you do not understand about us.
When I was in college, the only financial aide available to white women was either a loan, or a very small grant for “The Daughters of the American Revolution,” of which I didn’t qualify. I 100% paid my own way, with no assistance from anyone on schooling, books, apt rental, car, insurances, food and so on. There were plenty of Affirmative Action grants and scholarships for black women.
White women do not stick up for each other the way black women do. In fact, white women often sabotage each other in the work place. I hope that has changed with team sports. Women were never really taught to work as a team the way men were.
I told my husband years ago, even before Barack Obama, that a black man would become President of the United States before a white woman would. That came true. Now, it appears that a black women will follow suit.
So please update your information to align with reality.
Jackson says
I cannot in my heart vote for a convicted felon to run the highest office in the country.
Brian says
So “black women are routinely killed, raped, and beaten by the police.” Hmmm, I guess I need to watch the news more. Kamala Harris, who EVERYONE knows was a DEI hire, and has the worst approval rating of ANY vice president in history, has suddenly overnight become the nations’ savior. What has she done? What are her accomplishments? I’ll wait. And this Walz goofball – well everyone knows his story. Thankfully, this honeymoon will be over soon.
Jim says
Brian,
You’ll never see any stories like those on Fox News, which is clearly your “news source” of choice! But that’s okay. I doubt the Harris campaign would waste a milli-second trying to change your mind. Vote for Trump. He’s clearly the better candidate, if you can discount 34 felony convictions, a rape conviction, theft of top secret records (he’ll pay for that if he doesn’t get elected!), grift like no one has ever seen before, makes personal attacks but no plan he can share on how he’ll “MAGA” the country, only accepts elections he wins, porks porn stars while his (3rd) wife is taking care of his newborn, has greater crowd sizes than MLK, thinks all Vets are “losers and suckers”, among the many other fine attributes Orange Man has.
Speaking of Walz, he’s not a goofball. He has a resume that makes Trump and Vance look like the losers they really are. Maybe you ought to actually read some about it from another news source. But I guess that would be asking way to much from a deep thinker like you….
Your comments show you are a discerning and thoughtful person.
Ed P says
It’s obvious that the presidential candidates are polar opposites. But joy and nervous laughter are not normally attached to a great leader.
Yes, Trump is a convicted felon, who charges will quite possibly be quashed in the future.
When V.P. Harris rolls out her economic plans, any type of price controls should be a nonstarter for her base. Remember price controls on airline tickets, gasoline, utilities and even rents. They don’t work. Never have and never will.
She is reported to want to prevent price gauging. Laws already exist and why didn’t they step in during Covid when car dealerships were universally charging market adjustment fees reaching as high as $40,000. Even a Honda Civic had a $10,000 fee.
We can’t keep printing money and spending unless the underlying plan is to wait for the baby boomers to pass and pay all the dormant taxes owed in the iras and 401ks. They hold over 1/3 of all the wealth in the country. Hence , they go from the problem to the solution over the next 20 years.
Just think about it.
Sherry says
Here’s the thing. . . simply because a loophole, or a corrupt Supreme Court, can stop a despicable “criminal” from being jailed, does not magically turn him into an innocent, upstanding citizen worthy of ONE vote for President. It does NOT erase the FACT that he committed those “multiple” crimes. . . merely because he may not be held accountable. Such perverse attempts at “justification” are, by definition, egregiously unethical and corrupt.
The “FACTS” will forever remain! Trump:
1. Found “GUILTY” of “Falsifying Business Records”, multiple counts
2. Found “GUILTY” of ” Fraud”, multiple counts
3. Found “GUILTY” of “Sexual Assault” for “Rape”
4. Found “GUILTY” of “Defamation” of the woman he raped, multiple counts
5. The only President to be Impeached TWICE in Congress
Committed adultery, and told over 30 THOUSAND lies as President!
Even if our corrupt system never holds him accountable. . . such a morally bankrupt person should never ever be in any position of power again. CHARACTER MATTERS and trump will forever be “GUILTY”!
Ed P says
Sherry,
I understand your dislike for Trump. As I have stated, I’m not a legal authority.
But to say he was factually convicted of rape is false.
Does not make the charge of sexual abuse any less terrible. This was a civil case from an incident in 1996 which simply means a much more forgiving legal standard of proof. Had the state of New York not changed a law, the case would never have been able to be heard. The jury concluded that Jean Carroll did not prove that Trump raped her. Never the less, still disturbing.
If every CEO or COO was convicted of similarity flimsy charges of falsifying business records/fraud which are performed by their staff, I suspect we would have plenty of felons. The actual case set new and untested legal precedent that may be overturned.
By Wednesday November 6th, 2024 we will know if the majority of swing state voters looked beyond Trump’s personality issues and aligning with his policies.
Pierre Tristam says
Ed P is not only not a legal authority, but he is, once again, demonstrably wrong. Let’s not interpret, guess or, as Ed so often does, substitute slithers and innuendos for fact and evidence. Here, in his own words, is what Judge Kaplan wrote:
“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”
Donald Trump is a rapist. But we didn’t have to wait for the ruling to know what he, Trump, the pussy grabber, admitted—boasted of—in his own words. Rank misogyny aside, to either call these “personal issues” or look past them is both complicity and moral depravity.
Sherry says
Thank you Pierre!
It’s simply disgusting to think of the lengths some people will go to in trying to justify their support for such a despicable criminal. FOX likely did not publish Judge Kaplan’s words regarding trump’s rape case, but that does not excuse those who absolutely refuse to acknowledge the facts . . . which , as you said, makes them complicit and morally depraved.
In their “twisted” minds, trump is their savior and the millions who present “facts” to the contrary are bullied with worn out claims that they must be wrong because they “dislike trump”. What we have here is a case of brainwashed “cult” mentality. What a complete waste of human potential!
Thank you again, Pierre, for keeping it “real”!
Ed P says
Pierre,
I also read the judges “interpretation “ and his opinion.
The fact still remain, ruling was not rape under the definition as adjudicated.
Fact.
Judge Kaplan nor you change the fact, only thing it does is sway public opinion. Goal achieved.
Pierre Tristam says
Let’s not put stock in what the judge on the case says or what Ms. Carroll endured. Father Ed P knows best.
Laurel says
Ed P: It may be somehow comforting to believe that Trump did not *rape* Carroll by a technical, local, judicial standard, but when a man corners a woman, and shoves anything up her vagina against her will, reality is, he raped her. It doesn’t matter if it’s fingers, penis, broomstick, whatever. It’s rape. There should be nothing misunderstood about that.
Explain the invasion. Explain the torn skin. Explain the terror. Explain the bruises. Explain the embarrassment. Explain the victim’s lack of control of her own, private body.
The man is a rapist.
He is disgusting, and a complete, horrific, waste of a human being, and no one, and I mean no one should want him as President of the United States. Anyone who votes for him is complicit in his actions.
Oh, and by the way, his policies suck, if that’s all you measure a man by.
Sherry says
As I stated before. . . “Such perverse attempts at “justification” are, by definition, egregiously unethical and corrupt.”
“Even if our corrupt system never holds him accountable. . . such a morally bankrupt person should never ever be in any position of power again. CHARACTER MATTERS and trump will forever be “GUILTY”!
Sherry says
Justifications from the “Morally Depraved”:
1. “Everyone Does It”
2. “They/I didn’t get caught”
3. ” My Attorney Found a Loophole”
4. “I have more money than them, I’ll just keep appealing the case until they are bankrupt or dead”
5. ” Technically it was ONLY sexual assault, and not actually rape”
6. “Once I am president I’ll have all the charges dropped/quashed. . . therefore, there was no wrongdoing” . . . And all my immoral/loyal supporters will look the other way, or blame my political opponents and their “woke” supporters.
CHARACTER MATTERS! Being ethical/honest/having integrity is when you do the “right thing” even when no one is looking!