Reimagining the Racial Binary: Kamala Harris and Multiethnic Identity

Despite the vitriol we're seeing in this election, something amazing is happening. Kamala Harris is teaching people in the US and around the world how to reimagine the traditional boundary between Blackness and Whiteness.

I admire the way Vice President Harris has responded to racist (and sexist) attacks against her, firmly rejecting racial polarization while also challenging the antiblackness of her critics. Deftly navigating the “what-are-you-really?” questions, Kamala reminds us of a powerful truth:

People are the experts on their own lives.

White folks, we don’t get to tell Black people, multiracial or multiethnic people who they are. Furthermore, individuals who are Black are best equipped to answer the questions “Who is Black?” and “What is Blackness?”

I highly recommend Dr. Yaba Blay.’s beautiful book, One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race, which I've been reading to help me better understand these issues. Combining stunning photographic portraits and personal narratives, One Drop explores the diverse faces of Blackness and the stories that shape individual and cultural perceptions around race, skin color, and ethnicity.

As Dr. Blay explains, “There are people of African descent all over the world who, despite their appearances or maybe even because of their appearances, embrace their Blackness, and it has nothing to do with any number of drops or any legal designations.”

Blackness, as both a sociopolitical identity and lived reality, is more complex and capacious than most Americans realize.

It’s 2024. Time to open our minds.