The press’s efforts to portray Sen. Kamala Harris of California as some sort of social justice icon continue apace.
The problem is that Harris, with her long history of abuses as a corrupt prosecutor, makes it that much more difficult, forcing certain news outlets to scrounge for whatever they can.
That is why readers woke up this week to a real Washington Post headline that reads, “Kamala Harris’s dad was from Jamaica, where a fierce woman warrior once fought slavery.”
If you could not tell already from the title’s wording, the senator herself has no personal or familial connection to said “fierce woman warrior.” The connection is Jamaica. That is it — nothing more. The Washington Post article is essentially a game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and it is all in service of portraying the former prosecutor who imprisoned innocent people as some sort of anti-slavery champion.
“She was a warrior — the Harriet Tubman of Jamaica,” the article begins.
It adds, “As Republicans question whether Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), whose father was an immigrant from Jamaica and whose mother was an immigrant from India, is Black or even a descendant of enslaved Black people, they may want to consider the remarkable history of Nanny of the Maroons, a national hero in Jamaica.”
This is so absurd. The argument for Harris is quite literally that her father’s country of origin produced a hero to whom the senator has no connection whatsoever.
The Washington Post article then recounts in great detail the history of Nanny of the Maroons, the retelling of which is broken up occasionally by photos of the Harris family, as if one thing has something to do with the other.
Again, there is no connection between the California senator and the Jamaican legend. The only connection is that Harris’s father is from the same country as Nanny of the Maroons. For the Washington Post, that is apparently enough to force a connection.
To emphasize just how idiotic and artificial this all is, try to reimagine the same headline and opening paragraphs for President Trump and his Scottish heritage.
“President Trump’s mother was from Scotland, where William Wallace once fought British oppression.”
“He was a warrior — the George Washington of Scotland,” it would begin.
It would then read, “As Democrats question whether Republican nominee Donald Trump, whose mother was an immigrant from Scotland, is an authoritarian or even pro-liberty, they may want to consider the remarkable history of William Wallace, a national hero in Scotland.”
Ugh.
