After Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that his presidential opponent Kamala Harris āturned Blackā for political gain, Trumpās comments have impacted the way many multirace voters are thinking about the two candidates.
āShe was only promoting Indian heritage,ā the former president said during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week. āI didnāt 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.ā
āIs she Indian or is she Black?ā he asked.
Sheās 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 Harrisā politics more than others but, overall, they told NBC News that Trumpās comments will not go unnoticed.
That seems to me to be almost as bad as āwhere are you from?ā Itās not something white people are usually asked after all.
Neither would a black person who doesnāt have an accent. And white person is most likely not going to be asked āwhere are your ancestors from eitherā. But is it really so bad to be curious about a personās ancestral background? Definitely tacky to have it be one of the first questions you ask though.
I wasnāt suggesting it being an introductory question.
Of course. In that case, I donāt see anything wrong with being curious about their cultural/ethnic background.