Journalist Confused, Or Worse, About Race

When he appeared at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on Wednesday, former President Donald J. Trump infamously remarked "I didn't 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. So I don't know- is she Indian? Or is she black?"

Therefore, on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, the host asked Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, "why is former President Trump questioning the vice president's racial identity?" Once on the presidential nominee's very long vice presidential list, he replied

Well, first, George, in Chicago he was responding to a question from, I believe, Rachel Scott. Like, this is really a phony controversy. I don't really care. Most people don't. But if we're going to be accurate, when Kamala Harris went into the United States Senate, it was AP that said she was the first Indian American United States senator. It was actually played up a lot when she came into the Senate. Now she's running nationally. Obviously, the campaign has shifted. They're talking much more about - about her father's heritage and her black identity.

 It doesn't really matter. The president mentioned it. What he also talks about far more frequently is the fact that Kamala Harris is the person who created this massive inflation...

Stephanopoulos responded

And you - and you just repeated the slur again. If it doesn't matter, why do you all keep questioning her identity? She's always identified as a black woman. She is biracial. She has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She's always identified as both. Why are you questioning that?

"....she's always identified as a black woman. She is biracial." It's very likely that neither host nor guest noticed that Stephanopoulos had stated that Ms. Harris is "biracial" while she herself has "always identified as a black woman." When he says Ms. Harris is biracial and (simultaneously) "consistently identified as a black woman,"  Stephanopoulos is precisely the one who is questioning the candidate's identity.  

Nonetheless, Donalds responded

Well, George, first of all, this is something that's actually a conversation throughout social media right now. There were a lot of people who were trying to figure this out. But again, that's a side issue, not the main issue. The main issue that's (INAUDIBLE0- Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States.

Donalds obviously wanted to move on to other matters. Nevertheless, Stephanopoulos persisted, remarkin "Sir, one second. So you just did it- you just did it again." 

No, he didn't. The congressman merely noted that it is a subject on social media, then began to move on to "Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States..."  Stephanopoulos would have none of it, maintaining "Sir, one second. So, you just did it- you just did it again.... Why-why do you- why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?

Stephanopoulos chose to be confrontational- which is good television- but when someone asks "why are you questioning that," a reference to social media is, well, the obvious answer. When the congressman conceded that Trump had spoken about the subject for two minutes- only two minutes, in Donalds' estimation- Stephanopoulos charged "so questioning somebody's racial identity for a couple of minutes is OK?" Donalds responded

George, I'm going to tell you again, he brought it up. AP is the one that wrote the headline when she first came into the United States Senate. Didn't talk about her being black. Talked about her being the first Indian American senator. AP brought that up.

 I mean, George, we could have this conversation for the entire segment, but none of this matters to the American people. What matters to the American people is, are we going to have the same policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

This is easily refuted or verified and, as someone should tell George Stephanopoulos, it has been the latter:

AP is the one that wrote the headline when she first came into the United States Senate. Didn't talk about her being black. Talked about her being the first Indian-American senator. AP brought it up. That is what, in a different context, would be acknowledged as an inconvenient truth.

Remarkably, Stephanopoulos persisted, claiming "I don't understand why you keep on repeating it, why the president keeps on repeating it, why those introducing the president yesterday keep on repeating it."

And so Donalds points out "George, actually, I'm not the one who keeps repeating it. George, you're the one that's bringing it up now." You'd think that the host would have a little self-awareness, but he stated "you've done- sir, you've done it- you've done it three times, every single answer you gave me."

Well, of course Donalds did so- because Stephanopoulos asked him about it, repeatedly. Reporters should be pleased when a politician answers one of their questions, but not in this case. Thus, Donalds noted "but, George, now you're saying that 'AP' is the one that slurred Kamala Harris? Because those are the facts."

It was silly to think that facts matter to a news host who, obviously, is all in on Kamala Harris' candidacy to the extent that he berates a guest for actually answering his question  So Stephanopoulos then claims "'AP' did not say that Kamala Harris is not Black. She is biracial. She is Indian. She is Black."

What part of "Kamala Harris becomes first Indian American US Senator" does Stephanopoulos not understand? The headline did not say "Kamala Harris becomes first Black US Senator." It did not say "Kamala Harris becomes first biracial Senator." It said "Kamala Harris becomes first Indian American US Senator." \

In most relevant ways, Kamala Harris is black. However, that was not the issue in this discussion or for the AP headline. It is that she is Indian-American. It is the fault of neither Byron Donalds or Donald Trump that the Associated Press represented Harris as Indian-American when she has typically represented herself, legitimately, as black.

But, alas, the media must have its firsts.  She would not have been the first black US Senator but was the first Indian-American US Senator, even though she identifies as "black" and Stephanopoulos (correctly) insists "she is black." Yet, George Stephanopoulos denied that the AP referred to Ms. Harris- who is black- as Indian. However, she would not have been the first black US Senator but was the first Indian-American US Senator. When color is the paramount factor in assessing an individual's qualifications (as was the case prior to the civil rights movement), truth suffers.

There are far too few broadcast journalists willing to do as Stephanopoulos did,  to ask repeated follow-up questions of interviewees. Stephanopoulos crossed the line, though not in being fixated on one topic. He accused Byron Donalds of continually bringing up a subject the latter wanted to avoid. He alleged that the AP did not say that Kamala Harris is not black, when in fact the news outlet wrote )and emphasized) that she is Indian-American. He said that Harris is black and that she is bi-racial, notwithstanding the obvious contradiction.

The news business is not 23 and Me or Ancestry.com. If it were, it probably would discover that Kamala Harris has some ancestry dating to the West Indies, some to Africa and Asia, and possibly elsewhere. It works similarly for Americans understandably proud (or not) of their European descent while their racial heritage may be far more complicated.

The complete racial background of Kamala Harris is unknown to the public and is largely irrelevant, whatever it is. She appears black and has been considered black.  As she was growing up, Kamala's Jamaican heritage was emphasized by her (Indian-American) mother and she has generally identified as black.  The AP's headline was a business decision, and a grossly misleading one. Whatever motivated George Stephanopoulos to conduct this bizarre (might I say "weird"?) interview, it constitued demonstrable journalistic malpractice.

 

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