OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire this week after she shared a video on social media about her personal beliefs. Kwanzaa, the non-denominational celebration of African-American heritage, began on Monday and runs through Jan. 1. The seven-day holiday calls for celebrating one principle of the black American experience each night.
It didn’t take long for Harris to make it about herself.
“Hello, everyone, and Happy Kwanzaa. Doug and I sent our warmest wishes to all of you this holiday season,” Harris said alongside her husband Doug Emhoff.
“During Kwanzaa, we celebrate the history and heritage of the African American community and the African diaspora,” Emhoff said.
“Growing up Kwanzaa was always a special time. We came together with generations of friends and family and neighbors. There were never enough chairs. So my sister and I and the other children would often sit on the floor and together we lit the candles of the kinara. And then the elders would talk about how Kwanzaa is a time to celebrate culture, community, and family. And they, of course, taught us about the seven principles. My favorite principle was always the second — Kujichagulia. Self-determination, the power to design your own life and determine your own future. And it is a deeply American principle, one that guides me every day as vice president,” Harris said.
“To everyone celebrating, we hope your week is filled with love and light. From our family to yours: Happy Kwanzaa,” Emhoff concluded with Harris adding, “Happy Kwanzaa.”
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As National Geographic notes, Kwanzaa was started in 1966 by Los Angeles black power activist and academic Maulanga Karenga, founder of the Us Organization.
“The holiday struggled for recognition in its early years, writes historian Elizabeth Pleck in the Journal of American Ethnic History. Although some urban communities adopted it, many Christians and Muslims viewed the secular holiday as antithetical to their beliefs,” National Geographic notes.
“Kwanzaa’s adoption also slowed as the Us Organization unraveled amid internal feuds—including Karenga’s 1971 conviction and imprisonment for torturing two women he believed had tried to poison him.”
Harris was born in 1964, which was before the holiday even existed. So over the years as Harris claimed on social media that she had childhood memories of celebrating Kwanzaa, some have questioned her.
She wants us to believe that her Indian mother sat down with her Jamaican father and was like "let's get our Kwanzaa on!"
— Adam B. Coleman, President of Aintblackistan (@wrong_speak) December 26, 2022
Really? Who adopted Kwanza in your family? Your Indian mother or Jamaican father? Tell us more.
— CJ 🇺🇸 (@cj_in_oc) December 26, 2022
The hilarity of all of this is of course the idea that Vice President Kamala Devi Harris ever celebrated Kwanzaa. As the great @AnnCoulter says every year, boy I’d love to see a picture of her highly educated, culturally British and Brahmin parents lighting Kwanzaa candles.
— Saurabh Sharma 🇺🇸 (@ssharmaUS) December 26, 2022
Fed-up Republicans are calling for Vice President Kamala Harris to be removed from her position as the “border czar.”
Texas GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson introduced a resolution earlier this year, which has 26 co-sponsors, and argues that Harris and President Joe Biden have completely failed to handle the border crisis.
“Instead of working for the American people, Kamala Harris has worked against us by ignoring her responsibilities as Border Czar. Rather than doing her job, Harris sits back and watches as illegal immigration skyrockets, countless people at home and abroad are victimized by drug and human trafficking, and CBP officers are left without resources or support from the Biden Administration. Make no mistake – Harris’ approach is by design, and she must be stopped,” Jackson said.
“It is past time for Joe Biden to remove her from the Border Czar role and appoint someone who will put Americans’ interests first. A nation without borders is no nation at all. We need a real leader at the helm who will secure our southern border, and, in turn, our country’s bright future. A single canned photo op and pointless foreign trips to Northern Triangle countries on the taxpayers’ dime are not cutting it. I urge Speaker Pelosi to bring my resolution to the House Floor immediately, for the American peoples’ sake,” Jackson continued.
Florida GOP Reps. Byron Donalds and Mike Waltz also recently denounced Harris’ performance in office, slamming her “failures” as she went on a two-stop tour in the Sunshine State.
Donalds said Harris has not delivered as the “border czar,” with Mexican border policy being an “abject failure” with “anemic security policies.”
“She’s been ineffective in her primary role of securing the nation,” Donalds said.
Waltz offered similar comments.
“She’s going to the Spec Ops command to receive a briefing. I find that quite ironic and sad. I wish they had done that and listened to them before the Afghan debacle,” said Waltz. “The intelligence community is briefing us on a regular basis that ISIS and Al Qaeda again intend to hit us.”
A new report found that the number of illegal immigrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border for fiscal year 2022 topped 2.76 million, breaking the previous annual record by more than 1 million, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents an area along the southern border, also called for Harris to be replaced as the “border czar.“
