Did the media report Kamala Harris as Indian-American?

In a viral clip today, Vice President Kamala Harris appears four years ago with actress Mindy Kaling. It the cooking segment, Harris acknowledges that she is Indian. See the video below.

But, this is not about Kamala Harris and her racial identity as Indian-American or Jamaican, but about the media and it’s double-standard.

Several weeks ago, I was researching the candidates for information to include in bios for future stories about their faith, upbringing etc. I saw that Kamala Harris had attended a Baptist church for a bit in her teens. So I googled it and found an article from 15 years ago that mentioned that but also said she was Indian-American. What? I read that again. Yes. Boy, that’s interesting!

I read dozens of articles from major news outlets heralding the fact she was the “first” Indian-American for this or that office.

Fast forward to yesterday and Donald Trump says that at one time, Harris identified as Indian-American. This morning, from CBS to the Associated Press, and Reuters to Bloomberg, are all reporting that Trump falsely claimed Harris ever identified as Indian-American.

I don’t know if Harris changed her identity, but my research of these same news organizations and other groups finds that, yes, at the time, they reported that Harris was Indian-American.

She did say she was Indian in a this appearance with The Office actress Mindy Kaling. Harris has the video posted to her own Youtube site and it had garnered over 4 million views.

PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THIS!

DO NOT! NO! DONT YOU DARE!

DO NOT SHARE THIS pic.twitter.com/0XwJLrFhzp

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 31, 2024

Well, I’m pretty good at internet sleuthing. Links to the below references are in my comments below.

The Associated Press reported on June 19, 2010 that “Record Numbers of Indian-Americans seeking office.” That’s the headline. It goes on to list “Kamala Harris.”

https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/nation-world/2010/06/19/record-number-of-indian-americans-seeking-office/31762914007/

The Indian-American Leadership Initiative endorsed her for attorney general on Sept. 19, 2009. This is the most influential Indian political organization in California. Their newspaper reported: “Harris is now a candidate for California Attorney General. If elected,she will be the first Indian American State Attorney General in the United States.”

https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/print/iali-endorses-kamala-harris-for-california-attorney-general/

The Economic Times of India reported in 2008 (the story is behind a paywall): “Kamala Harris’ Indian heritage is deeply felt if little advertised. Indian American Kamala Harris, whose mother’s roots trace back to Tamil Nadu, India, has utilized her heritage strategically throughout her political journey.”

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/company/kag-india-private-limited/U45200TN2008PTC069879

Sage Journals reprinted a story from the American Sociological Association which, reporting on a study of ethnicity and voting said:

Who Votes among Asian American Ethnic Subgroups?

By Haifan Xiao and Loretta E. Bass · 2021 ·

“The possible effect of mobilizing Asian Americans to vote gained momentum with the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris as a second-generation Asian Indian…”

https://journals.sagepub.com › doi › pdf

I had another one from Bloomberg that showed up in search results but as of today the story is only referenced in the link to the photo that accompanied the article.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1999-12-20/photo-chrysler-pt-cruiser

Kamala Harris can identify as Jamaican or Indian. But what is inexcusable is when the media itself reported her as one nationality and now, 15 to 25 years later criticizing Donald Trump for referring to their own previous reporting of her Indian nationality.

The media shutting down questions about how t hey have reported a changing narrative of her identity is what is alarming. Donald Trump’s query is a fair one and opens the doors to deeper discussions of what it means to be Black, or White, Asian or any ethnicity in a diverse culture.

The media does a disservice to that discussion by labeling as racist anyone asking those questions.

–Dwight Widaman is the editor of Metro Voice, a faith-based news outlet serving the Kansas City region.