Muhamad Yehia
Kamala Harris has range. She can grill nominees for the Supreme Court or meet with foreign dignitaries, then pivot to hosting a Diwali celebration or dancing enthusiastically alongside an HBCU-styled marching band.
It is a dexterity that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, developed as a person of color to navigate the corridors of power or Main Street in a nation where race and identity influence how one is received or embraced.
Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is an adroit code-switcher, a term that can include deliberately adjusting one’s speech style and expression to optimize relatability and ensure she gets a message across.
Former President Donald Trump, during a contentious interview session at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, showed no familiarity with the concept. He implied that Harris is inauthentic for embracing all aspects of her heritage. His failure to recognize code-switching also speaks to a prevailing belief that whiteness, often correlated with speaking in plainly enunciated English, is the default in our politics and democracy.
“We need to be celebrating our whole selves, which means we need to celebrate all of our identities,” said Christine Chen, co-founder and executive director of APIAVote, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization focused on the Asian American Pacific Islander communityRelated Stories
more that a candidate can embrace their multiple identities, I think that’s a way to connect with different communities and different people who identify on different issues that you stand on,” added Chen, who is Chinese American
Trump, who falsely suggested to the annual candidate can embrace that the vice president has been misleading voters about her race, waded into murkier waters by insinuating Harris cannot be trusted because she “happened to turn Black” after she promoted her Indian heritage
Harris doesn’t need to code-switch to prove she is a Black and Indian American woman; she was born that way.
Shereen Marisol Meraji, former co-host of the award-winning NPR podcast “Code Switch,” said Harris’ identity is layered and can still be challenging to navigate in a nation that once encouraged multiracial people to favor one identity over another.
“If you walk through the world as I have, where I’m trying very much to embrace both sides of myself, then it’s like you get put through these authenticity tests,” said Meraji, who is of Iranian and Puerto Rican heritage.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
An assistant professor of race and journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, Meraji added: “The ability to code-switch and go into different communities … it is a huge asset. And I think for people who are in competition with Kamala Harris, it’s also quite threatening.”
Many politicians of color code-switch to ensure vital information is delivered to voters and constituents with cultural resonance. This is a familiar concept among Americans of color, including the 33.8 million people identified as being more than one race, according to the last U.S. Census.