Up next in 10
Why Black Voters Are Skeptical of Kamala Harris
21K views
Feb 6, 2025
#kamalaharris #election2024 #blackexcellence Vice President Kamala Harris has made history multiple times. Although she stands to be the first Black presidential candidate nominated by the Democratic Party, some Black voters are skeptical about her. But why?
View Video Transcript
0:00
kamla Harris's or as the right would
0:02
like to say camelas rise to prominence
0:05
in American politics has been truly
0:08
historic marked by several significant
0:10
Milestones as the first black and South
0:12
Asian woman to serve as Vice President
0:14
of the United States Harris represents a
0:16
breakthrough in the political landscape
0:18
but then tell me why some of my friends
0:20
that are usually champions of black
0:22
politicians not super excited about
0:25
kamla Harris well the issue is a bit
0:27
complex in today's video we'll look at
0:29
ala's rise to historical prominence and
0:33
the criticism she faces from some
0:35
segments of the black community by
0:37
delving into her political record public
0:40
perception and broader issues within the
0:42
Democratic party kamla Harris was born
0:44
to a Jamaican father and an Indian
0:47
mother and grew up in a multicultural
0:49
household in Oakland California she
0:51
started her Public Service as a deputy
0:53
district attorney in alamia County
0:55
California before becoming the district
0:57
attorney of San Francisco and later the
0:59
attorney general of California Harris's
1:01
political Ascent continued when she was
1:03
elected into the US Senate in 2016 her
1:06
tenure in the Senate was marked by
1:08
high-profile moments including her
1:10
pointed questioning during Congressional
1:13
hearings her bid for the presidency in
1:15
the 2020 election gained significant
1:17
attention to me kamla Harris is one
1:19
impressive woman so why does she have
1:22
such a mixed reception in the black
1:24
community well let's first start with
1:26
her record one of the primary sources of
1:28
criticism from Black voter stems from
1:30
Harris's tenure as a prosecutor as San
1:33
Francisco's district attorney and later
1:35
as California attorney general Harris
1:37
developed a reputation for being tough
1:39
on crime well critics argue that her
1:41
policies disproportionately affected
1:44
black and Latino communities
1:46
contributing to mass incarceration and
1:48
the systematic issues within the
1:50
criminal justice system in 2015 Harris
1:53
didn't take a position on a state law
1:56
that would have required independent
1:58
investigations when police killed
2:00
civilians Harris's office also tried to
2:03
prevent nonviolent prisoners from being
2:06
released after the US Supreme Court
2:08
ruled that California's overcrowded
2:11
prisons violated inmates constitutional
2:14
rights Harris supported several policies
2:17
that have been controversial among black
2:19
voters including truancy laws that
2:21
penalize parents for their child's
2:24
School absences which disproportionately
2:26
affected lowincome Families kamla's
2:29
office ALS also defended wrongful
2:31
convictions and fought to uphold
2:33
sentences that many believed were unjust
2:35
Harris's stance on the death penalty
2:38
also had been a point of contention
2:40
while she personally opposes capital
2:42
punishment as attorney general she
2:45
defended California's death penalty in
2:47
court this position created a perception
2:49
of inconsistency and raised questions
2:52
about her commitment to Criminal Justice
2:54
Reform the interesting thing though is
2:57
even though kamla is touting her years
2:59
as a prosecutor in her race against
3:01
Trump it's mostly this record that has
3:04
alienated many in the left wing of the
3:06
democratic party on the otherand Trump
3:08
is running ads attacking Kamala as being
3:11
too weak on crime another rumor not
3:14
rumor but more of a claim I hear about
3:16
kamla is that she slept her way to the
3:18
top meaning it's her relationships that
3:20
got her to the position she's at and not
3:22
her qualifications and the internet
3:25
points to this one specific relationship
3:28
cating popular politician Willie Brown
3:31
in the 9s well we know her first
3:33
meaningful job in politics was given to
3:35
her by her boyfriend at the time who's
3:37
married Willie Brown most powerful
3:39
Democrat in California back in the 90s
3:41
Willie Brown was mayor of San Francisco
3:44
she was in her late 20s and Mayor Brown
3:46
was in his 60s as expected in
3:48
relationships like these kamla was
3:51
introduced to important people in Willie
3:53
Brown Circle and he did help her in her
3:56
quest to become a district attorney
3:58
really Brown was also speaker of the
4:00
California Assembly I really have no
4:02
doubt that Mr Brown is an important
4:04
figure in kamla's Career Connections and
4:07
relationships are important aspects of
4:09
people's careers isn't it isn't there
4:11
that saying it's not what you know but
4:14
who you know or who knows you and one
4:17
interesting note on this according to a
4:18
2021 book by journalist Dean Morin
4:21
called kamala's way and American Life
4:24
Willie Brown even took kamla on a
4:26
business trip to Boston where he was
4:28
meeting Donald Trump and another rumor
4:30
that I just want to address people are
4:32
saying that KES was with brown while he
4:35
was still married to his wife this has
4:37
been fact checked many times and he was
4:39
actually separated from his wife for
4:42
more than a decade when he and Harris
4:43
dated in the mid90s their relationship
4:46
ended in 1995 and it was no secret to
4:49
anybody so I really don't understand
4:52
what the problem with this is especially
4:54
when a lot of you guys have probably
4:56
slept with somebody just for freaking
4:58
Red Lobster
5:01
I mean it's just crazy what men in
5:03
general and the Republican party will
5:05
say on one side but it's okay for these
5:07
men to go around and sleep with
5:08
everybody but when women sleep with
5:11
anybody that's the only way that they
5:12
can succeed it makes no sense this is
5:15
crazy but leave your comments below I
5:17
want to hear what you think of this
5:19
rumor specifically because I can't get
5:21
people to stop talking about this when I
5:23
thought nobody would care in the first
5:24
place and then there is the biggest
5:27
accusation of them all the case of her
5:30
identity AP is the one that wrote the
5:32
headline when she first came in to the
5:34
United States Senate didn't talk about
5:36
her being black talked about her being
5:38
the first indianamerican Senator AP
5:40
brought that up is kamla truly black a
5:43
few days ago president Trump said he
5:45
didn't know vice president Harris was a
5:46
black woman I'm trying to figure out
5:48
what all the outrage is about cuz she's
5:50
only black when it's time to get elected
5:52
Harris's mixed racial background has
5:54
also contributed to the complexity of
5:57
her relationship with black voters some
5:59
segments of the black community question
6:02
her identification as a black woman
6:04
given her dual Heritage and the
6:06
perception that she may not fully
6:09
understand or represent the unique
6:11
experiences of black Americans I'm Black
6:14
and I'm Proud of being black and I was
6:16
born black I will die Black and I'm
6:19
Proud of being black and I'm not going
6:20
to make any excuses for anybody cuz they
6:22
don't understand while Harris has
6:24
embraced her black identity and has
6:27
strong ties to the black community I
6:29
mean the woman even went to Howard
6:30
University and is a member of Alpha
6:32
Kappa Alpha the nation's oldest black
6:35
sority some voters feel that her
6:37
upbringing and career have distanced her
6:39
from the live realities of many black
6:41
Americans as you've seen in the news
6:43
Trump is pushing this notion that comma
6:45
became black for political Advantage but
6:48
had always embraced her Indian side more
6:51
Trump's not backing away from the
6:52
controversy today he went online he
6:54
shared a photo of Harris wearing a sorry
6:56
in a family photo and he writes about it
6:59
your warmth friendship and love of your
7:01
Indian Heritage are very much
7:03
appreciated seems to me like the goal is
7:06
to lower the enthusiasm of the black
7:08
vote there is even false rumors going
7:10
around that kamla's race was listed as
7:13
white on her birth certificate it was
7:14
only yesterday when Obama was facing the
7:17
same issues and questions of identity
7:20
when he was running for president on a
7:22
broader scale some black voters just
7:24
feel taken for granted by the Democratic
7:26
party Black voters have historically
7:28
been a crucial constituency for the
7:30
Democratic party yet they often feel
7:33
neglected and now with the running of a
7:36
black woman for presidency the pressure
7:38
will be on black voters to show up and
7:40
deliver the White House for the
7:42
Democrats but some are looking Beyond a
7:44
historical moment and are asking what's
7:47
in it for us that's not even touching
7:49
kamala's record as vice president there
7:51
are many critics of the Biden Harris
7:53
Administration in the black community
7:56
and one of the issues being the Israel
7:58
Palestine conflict countless black
8:00
organizations and activists have been
8:02
championing the Palestinian plight for
8:05
years in this new round of conflict
8:07
seeing the seemingly Limitless support
8:09
the Biden Harris Administration has
8:12
given the Israel government has angered
8:14
many Progressive voters that's just one
8:16
issue that stands out to me as I have
8:18
heard this issue brought up repeatedly
8:21
in my circle so will kamla be able to
8:23
pull the 90% plus black support that
8:26
Obama was able to Garner twice when he
8:28
ran for president
8:29
it will definitely be interesting to
8:31
watch let me know your thoughts in the
8:33
comments as always subscribe and stay
8:35
tuned for more interesting and hopefully
8:37
informative videos on black culture and
8:40
history see you next time and also I
8:42
wanted to address this in the comments
8:44
the reason why I haven't been so quick
8:46
to do something on Biden is because he's
8:49
not running for president
#Discrimination & Identity Relations
#People & Society
#Social Issues & Advocacy