Harris’ Candidacy for President Reminds America, the Content of Character Still Means Little

By Norman Franklin

Norman Franklin

We thought we had grown. We thought were becoming a nation, one nation under God; a nation of unity and respect for one another. Humanity was created to be relational. But we are tribal, conflicting, arrogant, and unaccommodating.

Annually, on January 15, communities across the nation come together in a façade of unity; we talk of tearing down invisible barriers – self-constructed barriers, and we celebrate the “Dreamer” the twentieth century Prophet of justice and unity in America.

“I have a Dream!”

We echo the words of that unforgettable speech Dr. King gave before thousands on the Washington Mall. That was 1964.

The Dream, in the context of a segregated society, was about the ludicrous practices of a color-based social system and its inclinations of superiority, inferiority and exclusion based on skin color.

The Dream: a concise capture is, stop dismissing the accomplishments of the African American; see the legacy of value we bring.

We have, as a nation, maintained a hypocritical façade of unity. We ignore the elephant in the room. We toss a white sheet over it. Once a year we pretend we want to overcome.

The elephant, the deep-seated cultural biases indoctrinated over decades, over centuries of mythopoetic ideologies of color-based superiority, will not go away.

Living in a system based on the delusions of superiority is deleterious to the oppressed and the oppressor. It compromises the intelligence of the privileged – most often the oppressors, it distorts their belief systems, and twists their Christian interpretations of what the Savior has commanded us to do: love one another as you love yourself.

The Bible tells us in the book of Romans, chapter 8, verse16, that we are of one family, brothers and sisters, if we are in Christ. 1 John 4:19-20, then, should give us pause on the uncivil discourse, the sophomoric name calling, dismissive remarks and derogatory labels.

A recalcitrant ideology forced legislative guarantees for full access to the promise of inalienable rights for Americans of African descent, for Native Americans, and for immigrants.

Affirmative Action (AA) legislation and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies (DEI) were designed to pry loose that clinging dead, dry leaf of racism intrinsic in the soul of America.

AA and DEI initiatives have been misrepresented and maligned. They have become dismissives, “dog whistles” that undermine the competence of people of color. Professional standards were lowered for them to qualify for the positions.

African American doctors, engineers, scientists, CEOs of Fortune 500 corporations, mayors, governors, senators and POTUS prove the mindsets laughable. But the tentacles of racist dismissiveness are still tethered to some who fear equality, those who fear the challenges of a level field.

The elephant trumpets every time the people with melanin-rich-skin, step out of the shadows of oppression and into leadership roles.

It comes as no surprise that Tom Burchett, (R-Tenn), a cognitive challenged, alum of Neanderthal University, would label VP Kamala Harris a DEI hire. It resonated with the Fox Network jesters who immediately pushed it in their program broadcasts.

It’s a reverse euphemism that reveals one whose mentality is trapped in the ignorance of supremist ideology. One who can’t see the beauty of the forest because his/ her focus remains on one dying tree.

VP. Harris graduated from Howard University in 1986, and from Hastings College in 1989. She earned a BA in Political Science and Economics from the HBCU and a law degree from Hastings.

She is the daughter of immigrants. Her father is from Jamacia, her deceased mother from India. They came to America during the Civil Rights era. They met in 1962 while studying for their Ph.Ds. at UC Berkeley.

Donald Harris is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Standford University. Shyamala Gopalan was a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Father, mother, and daughter Kamala all have impressive credentials, phenomenal accomplishments, but not enough to escape the dismissive label of “DEI hire.”