Harris Turns Africa Trip Into Political Boost With Black Voters
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(Bloomberg) -- Kamala Harris’s trip to Africa, at turns eliciting deep reflection from the historic US vice president, offered a chance for her to reconnect with Black Americans whose support is crucial for her and President Joe Biden’s looming reelection bid.
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At Cape Coast Castle, a former slave-trading post in Ghana, Harris delivered an emotional address about the painful history of slavery and her own ties to Africa, going mostly off-script from prepared remarks, according to a person familiar with the planning. As she toured the site, she was seen wiping away tears and shaking her head.
Harris’ weeklong tour to three countries carried geopolitical aims, as the US looks to bolster African relations and counter Chinese influence. But just as important is the political and cultural impact of the tour by the first Black and woman vice president, one which was loaded with references and imagery intended to send a strong signal to Black voters at home and the broader African diaspora.
Harris spoke at sites of symbolic importance such as Black Star Square, which commemorates Ghana’s independence, and referenced iconic civil-rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis. In Accra, Ghana, Harris stood for a photo in front of a yellow wall decorated with the names of prominent Black creators, including the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh and musician Kendrick Lamar.
“It’s so meaningful for a number of reasons, not the least of which is, as she said, it represents the journey of Black Americans,” said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist and former Hillary Clinton aide.
Much of the imagery hearkened back to former President Barack Obama’s historic visits to the continent, with Harris speaking before crowds and surrounded by throngs of young people. Harris walked by a plaque at the Cape Coast Castle marking Obama’s visit there and traveled down a road in Tanzania named in his honor — powerful symbols to Black voters who helped elect him and are a key part of Biden’s coalition.
The trip also highlighted her influence and reach beyond political circles as she was joined by civil-rights leaders, academics and Hollywood icons. Actors Idris Elba and Sheryl Lee Ralph, filmmaker Spike Lee, and several presidents from historically Black colleges, including from her alma mater Howard University, attended a state dinner hosted by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Read more: Idris Elba, Sheryl Lee Ralph Add Star Power on Harris Trip
National Urban League President Marc Morial said he met privately with Akufo-Addo and the two discussed establishing a potential Urban League affiliate in Ghana, and other projects.
The trip “represents for her an opportunity to put a stake in the ground about the role that she can play in foreign policy,” he said. “It’s not just about economics. It’s not just about some sort of strategic advantage. It is an authentic cultural link with Africa that she represents.”
Harris is the latest in a string of top US officials who have visited or will head to Africa this year, part of a renewed push to strengthen economic and security ties there. The trip afforded Harris, who has been prone to an occasional gaffe, a chance to burnish her foreign policy chops, in a region where China and Russia are making inroads. The vice president held bilateral meetings with the heads of state of all three countries she visited and was feted at dinners by the presidents of Tanzania and Ghana.
Women’s empowerment was also a focus of the trip; in Ghana, Harris unveiled a package of efforts, valued at more than $1 billion, aimed at mitigating gender inequality in the digital economy.
Earlier: Microsoft, Pfizer Join $1 Billion Harris Effort on Gender Gap
The week was a reprieve from the criticisms Harris faces domestically, where her early days in the administration were marked by staff turnover and a challenging assignment to address the root causes of migration from Central America. Harris’s supporters argue that she faced heightened expectations entering office.
“It is a full circle moment for a lot of Black people here in the United States to just see that full connection, understanding how Black people arrived in this country to have someone go there who is Black, as vice president of the United States, just tells our story,” said Kevin Harris, a Democratic strategist.
Speaking to reporters while in Africa, Harris also delivered a domestic political jab. She criticized “so-called leaders” who are “attempting to erase history,” a subtle reference to Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a widely expected 2024 presidential candidate who drew attention for efforts to limit how schools teach about race and gender.
‘Special Significance’
Harris nodded at the momentous nature of the trip.
“We have an intertwined history. Some of which is painful, and some of which is prideful, and all of which we must acknowledge, teach, and never forget,” Harris said at Black Star Square. “This continent, of course, has a special significance for me personally as the first Black vice president of the United States.”
Crowds in each country — Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia — received Harris warmly. Perhaps nowhere more so than in Zambia, where Harris spent time as a young girl and where her grandfather was a civil servant in the Indian government assigned to work on refugee resettlement in Zambia.
She stopped at the site where her grandfather’s house once stood and also at the National Assembly of Zambia, near the spot where she was once photographed as a child.
“It speaks well for the United States that we have Vice President Harris coming here,” said Jendayi Frazer, a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs. “Many will look at her and see possibilities, especially young girls, for their own life.”
Kevin Harris, the Democratic strategist, said he saw parallels between the vice president’s trip and Obama’s visits to Africa.
“It stirs a lot of the same feelings of pride within African Americans that we felt for Obama,” he said. “The only way she could top it is she has to go back as president.”
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