Black women see Harris' push for the presidency as a battle to prove their own humanity

Vice President Kamala Harris' rise to near-lock as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee has been swift and certain during the past several days, with the passion and enthusiasm behind her drawing parallels to the push of Barack Obama in 2008.

But attendant to Harris' ascent is the concern among Black Americans that, as with Obama, racist criticisms and caricatures — some subtle and some not so subtle — are sure to follow. And for Black women, the concern is heightened, carrying with it the chagrined certainty that Harris will endure doubts and dismissal both as a woman and as a Black woman — a double-barred reality many Black women know all too well from their own lives.

That may explain why, on the day President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election bid and endorsed Harris, some 44,000 mostly Black women across the country got on a call to pledge solidarity with Harris. It was the kind of organic, grassroots call that speaks to genuine enthusiasm and support, and it was followed the next day by another mass call of support from Black men.

For Black women, a solidarity with Vice President Kamala Harris

It is Black women, however, who most acutely feel a sense of solidatrity with the vice president, and it is Black women who have promised to have her back.

Black women interviewed for this story, who hail from various parts of Florida, all said they plan to support Harris. They said they don't simply share her policy aims; they expressed a deep-seated understanding of what it's like to be a successful Black woman and to have everything about you scrutinized and demeaned — everything from the way you look and sound to your intelligence and accomplishments.

Rachel Cohen, a 35-year old, stay-at-home mother of three in Port St. Lucie, said she remembers what she heard after learning she got an early acceptance from the University of Florida.

"I got it because I'm a good writer and a good test-taker," Cohen said, adding that not everyone viewed her acceptance as a product of her talents and accomplishments. "But it couldn't be because of that. I was another check box for a quota. The only reason I got in is because of my race."

Harris, 59, has been mocked and memed by white, often male, political opponents because of how her laugh sounds. Former President Donald Trump has been trying out various attack lines tied to that mockery, including nicknames like "Cackling Kamala" and "Laughing Kamala."

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, the Ohio Republican tapped by Trump to serve as his running mate, has criticized Harris and other Democratic women as "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable."

Harris gained two stepchildren when she married attorney Doug Emhoff in 2014. The vice president, like an increasing number of professional women in the United States, married later in life and has no biological children.

In endorsing Harris, actress Jennifer Aniston mentioned Vance's "childless cat ladies" dig, posting on a social media account that she "truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States."

Aniston has detailed her own fertility struggles and pushed back against the notion that a woman isn't truly successful in life unless she becomes a mother.

Vance lobbed another attack at Harris in a recent campaign speech, questioning if she is sufficiently "grateful" to be a citizen of the United States. Critics saw the comment as an attempt to racially "otherize" the California-born Harris, whose father is from Jamaica and whose mother was from India.

Some GOP opponents have called Kamala Harris a 'DEI candidate'

Other Harris critics leaned more heavily on race in knocking her, including Wisconsin congressman Glenn Grothman, who said Democrats would feel compelled to turn to Harris as the party's presidential nominee because of her "ethnic background."

Some of Grothman's Republican colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives have called Harris a "DEI" candidate, insinuating that the vice president's successes are all tied to an embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion, which they criticize as a pathway to reverse discrimination against white people.

Cohen said Black women alone won't be enough to push Harris past such tactics to victory in November.

"My concern is white women," Cohen said. "White women allowed Hillary (Clinton) to lose. Black women are going to do what we're going to do. This is going to come down to white women, and we'll have to see what Hispanic voters are going to do."

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Harris is making a strong play for the votes of women, leaning into criticism of the former president as the person who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who struck down Roe v. Wade, scuttling abortion rights for millions of women. The vice president is also talking up child care, education and health care policies she hopes will resonate with women.

As national polls show her drawing even with or slightly past Trump, Harris has come under increasing attack not only on the political front but in personal, sexist and racist ways.

"There seems to be a growing comfort and permissability to not only openly question Vice President Harris' qualifications a la 'DEI hire' but also to flirt with the ugliest of tropes about Black female sexuality and professional accomplishment," said Shalonda Warren, a 54-year old West Palm Beach City Commission member. "The silent calculus that accepts this is a threat to the rights of all women."

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Black women say they've heard varying versions of this criticism in their own lives and seeing Harris endure those barbs publicly binds them to her.

"It's like our humanity and our worth is being challenged," said Robin Reshard, a 58-year old local historian in Pensacola, noting with incredulity the box where the vice president's critics want her to remain. "How dare she rise? You should stay in this lane that we have assigned for you."

Reshard said she's glad that, so far, Harris has kept to her campaign script and has not responded to the racist and sexist pokes.

"I appreciate that this sister isn't doing tit-for-tat," Reshard said. "Ain't nobody got time for that. If you do that, you're taking your eyes off the proverbial prize."

Can Kamala Harris take the heat? Supporters say she can

Victoria Jones, a 39-year old Cocoa resident who is founder, president and chief executive officer of the Space Coast Black Chamber of Commerce, said she's not worried Harris can't take the heat.

"To worry is like inviting trouble to a party," Jones said. "Women, especially Black women, have carried this country for hundreds of years. We’re the true hidden figures behind many great things but do not receive credit for it. We’ve often had to deal with sexism along with racism. As a Black woman involved in politics and economic development, I’ve experienced my share of both."

Jones, a registered Republican who has run for office as a Democrat, said sexist fliers were mailed out during her run for office. There have been other painful momemts in her work life as well, she said.

FAU-Mainstreet poll: Kamala Harris behind Donald Trump, but by less of a gap than Joe Biden

"I’ve had to have one of my close male colleagues sit in on a meeting with a male businessman who essentially proposed causing issues for me if I didn’t back down," she said. "I’ve had a male community advocate reach out to shake my hand and once I embraced his hand, he squeezed so hard my hand swelled up. I did file a police report for the incident to have it documented in case I had to defend myself in the future."

Jones said she remembers seeing a picture of Harris seated next to Biden. The caption used a slang term for prostitute in referring to Harris.

"I know how it feels to have those sorts of things hurled at you and to keep walking with grace," she said.

For Black women, a Harris victory could mean a shift for more opportunities

That's Harris' charge, said Katrina Long-Robinson, a 48-year old former Westlake City Council member who now works as vice president for public and government relations for a political consulting firm.

"As a mother to a Black daughter, a former educator to young Black and brown students, and a person who works in Black and brown communities, I know the transformative power that representation and role models have," Long-Robinson said. "Vice President Harris’ very existence in such a significant role provides a powerful role model for young Black women, demonstrating that their voices and experiences matter in national leadership."

The Black women backing Harris said they aren't supporting the vice president simply to satisfy their own political desires. They said they are looking to the future, one where Harris' example could pave the way for more opportunities for girls and young women.

Toward that end, Cohen said she and a friend in Lake Worth Beach plan to host an event on August 1 where girls aged 5 to 12 — "future voters," Cohen calls them — will make friendship bracelets that will be mailed to the site of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later in the month. The plan is to have about 100 bracelets made that have a tag with information about the girl who made it.

"Our goal is really to get one to Kamala Harris," Cohen said. "Or to (First lady) Jill Biden. We want them to know there are young girls who are watching, who are aware of what's happening."

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Black women familiar with sexism, bigotry Harris endures in campaign