Say Something Real
Racial and Gender Attacks on VP Harris Rooted in Ignorance
By Michelle Bryant
Michelle Bryant
My mom died from cancer in 2020. I miss her every day…but I’m glad she’s not here right now to witness the racially motivated and gender-ignorant comments leveled at Vice President Kamala Harris. My phone would be ringing incessantly with word of every vile, sexist, and outright stupid behavior from Republican party members and supporters hell-bent on tearing Harris down.
My mom was born in 1942. She never wanted me to take the advancements women had made in this country for granted. She talked about the inability of women to own property or have credit in their name, at one time. She recoiled at the expectation that a woman was expected to stay quiet and stay put in an abusive marriage. Collecting her wages was always a reminder that she worked twice as hard to be paid half the money of her male counterparts. And as a black woman, she fought against being unfairly sexualized and labeled as morally bankrupt, for no other reason than the color of her skin.
My mom was smart but had her intelligence and abilities questioned in the workplace. Her accomplishments were often diminished or intentionally credited to someone else. As a result, she worried about me, her only daughter. She taught me self-love and insisted that I know my worth. When I was a teenager, she told me “Michelle, hear me and hear me well. There are people that will tell you that you are nothing special, no big deal, and have no value. Every day, you make them eat those words”. When I was younger she said “Sticks and stones will hurt your bones, but names will never hurt you.” I always wondered where that saying originated. I wanted to tell her and the author, that names do hurt.
Doing some quick research, I found that the axiom appeared in The Christian Recorder, among other places. This was a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, on March 22, 1862, where it was presented as an “old adage” in this form: Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me. Although, I could trace back references to the phrase in the 1830’s. Regardless of the period, the intent of its usage was the same: a defense against name-calling and verbal bullying.
Watching and listening to the attacks on Vice President Harris, I have to admit that I am angry with those who still treat women this way. Including, other women for God’s sake! I want to shake these ignorant people and tell them these vulgar and meritless attacks invite sexist maltreatment against your wives, your daughters, and the women that you care about. When you raise doubts about the talent, abilities, and intellect of one woman, you do it against ALL women.
Harris’ race is also being used as a vehicle for marginalization and bigotry. Far too many Republican leaders seem comfortable riding the racist train back into slavery-era thinking: Black must mean inferior, incapable, and mediocre. But hear me and hear me well…my mother was right. Women and Black women, in particular, are special, a big deal and have value. We are brilliant leaders, capable of running not just this country, but the world. Get on board, or get out of the way, but you will not send us back to a time when we were treated any less.