News and information—or disinformation—will be tremendously influential in shaping voter opinion and action this November. The role of the press is critical in Harris’s candidacy.
The confirmation of Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, and her choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate, represent an unprecedented moment in American history. At the Democratic National Convention later this month in Chicago, the pair will make headlines around the world, as will the reaction from the opposing candidate, Donald Trump.
But, many media outlets fail to label extremely negative counter-narratives to this historic move as the racist outrages that they are.
The news of Harris’s ascension to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket has generated wide press coverage. This has included enthusiasm from Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y), former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker—plus grassroot supporters who expressed relief when Harris succeeded President Joe Biden, whose performance as a candidate had been faltering.
Harris has received harsh critiques from Republicans, including Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn), and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.). Critics such as these have portrayed her as an unqualified “DEI” hire and called her heritage, qualifications and intelligence into question. Most notably, Trump himself called her “dumb as a rock.”
The role of the press is critical in Harris’s candidacy as news and information—or disinformation—is tremendously influential in shaping voter opinion and action. This is not a new observation; research shows that United States media outlets have been perceived as biased against African-Americans, as well as lacking experience in properly covering Black women.
In recent years, some in the United States mainstream press have been criticized for “both-sidesing” political issues in a manner that downplays egregious positions taken by some candidates by portraying them as on par with conventional candidates, thus normalizing aberrant behavior.
For example, many journalists focused on Biden’s mental sharpness, while devoting relatively little attention to Trump’s overall lack of fitness for office. This includes Trump’s behavior in trying to overturn a legitimate election, his conviction as a felon and his overall incompetence in governing as judged by the cabinet officials who worked with him during his presidential term.
The normalization of “both-sidesing”—or lack of scrutiny and coverage—continues in a slightly different vein now that Harris is the Democratic candidate for the presidential office. Some journalists appear not to be reporting the breadth, depth and pure malice of the invectives Trump and JD Vance, GOP vice presidential candidate, have hurled at Harris.
Trump’s characterization of Harris as “garbage” was especially disturbing. This insult was in reaction to Harris’s critique of Trump’s qualifications for office. While there was an immediate, critical reaction by the African-American reporter Sara Sidner and an incisive, in-depth critique by Lawence O’Donnell on MSNBC, many in mainstream legacy media did not cover this event.
Unpacking Trump’s “garbage” characterization of Harris evoked for me—and for many who identify as African-American—disturbing memories of America’s historic efforts to dehumanize African-Americans, in particular during the time of enslavement.
I found it reminiscent of the horror of the gynecological experimentations conducted on enslaved Black girls and women in the 19th century by James Marion Sims. This was at a time when Black people were regarded as subhuman and therefore in no need of anesthesia. The claim was that they didn’t feel pain, which must have been counter-intuitive given the screams of the enslaved women and girls as they were operated on, and which was noted by Sims in his description of the surgeries.
If elected, Harris would be the first woman—and the first woman of color—to hold this high office. It could symbolize a historic moment for the United States: A moment when, somehow, the racism and sexism that so many in the U.S. have experienced receded and allowed for an amply qualified candidate to rise to the highest office in the land.
Trump and Vance’s comments, plus the prospect of a second term for Trump, are as horrifying and painful as what Sims did to the enslaved Black girls and women he experimented on.
It is every journalist’s responsibility to not let this happen.
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