OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A photo of Vice President Kamala Harris and a young black girl that was obviously meant to be inspirational was instead ripped as portraying the very opposite of what her communications team was going for.
The photo shows an unmasked Harris bending down as though she is speaking to the young girl, who is masked, with the Twitter caption: “My message to Black women and girls everywhere: Never ask for permission to lead.”
“But what it inspired was a reaction no image-crafter is aiming aim for: Disgust, anger and withering contempt,” noted the Western Journal in an op-ed pointing out the criticisms.
“For many Twitter users…the message conveyed by the girl wasn’t bold confidence but docility and obedience — not to mention physical discomfort,” the op-ed continued.
That included Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who noted, “Kids should not have to ask for permission to show their faces and breathe freely.”
Kids should not have to ask for permission to show their faces and breathe freely.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) February 19, 2023
Several other users offered up similar criticisms.
“Make d*mn sure that kid knows she’s a second-class citizen to you, Kamala,” one user wrote.
Liz Wheeler with streaming network The First TV, added: “All this picture does is remind us that you support masking children while you are unmasked yourself. You’re anti-science.”
All this picture does is remind us that you support masking children while you are unmasked yourself. You’re anti-science.
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) February 19, 2023
“Why is the child masked but you are not? Aren’t you more the target age for Covid than she is? You disgust me,” said another.
The Western Journal noted further:
Second, the tweet addressed only “Black women and girls.”
Why is Harris’ encouragement restricted by race?
It might seem counterintuitive, considering the prominence of black entertainers in public life, black athletes in major sports, the number of black actors featured in television advertisements, and the endless pandering of progressives and politicians, but black Americans make up only about 12 percent of the population, meaning the “black women and girls” Harris is addressing account for about 6 percent of the people she is supposed to represent as a whole.
That’s pretty specific targeting, based solely on an accident of genetic makeup that determines skin color. And any honest appraisal of Harris’ tweet would call it what it is: Sheer racism.
“Yep, this. Its modern racism, veiled as altruism,” another Twitter user noted.
Yep, this. Its modern racism, veiled as altruism.
— Chris Metcalf (@cmetdraws) February 20, 2023
One apparent female Twitter user added: “What about just saying that No Females need permission to speak. Why bring race into it? I work in a man’s industry and have never had an issue about when to speak up even if it was flat out interrupting them just so I could be heard. The less you are afraid to speak out towards a man the less control they have.”
What about just saying that No Females need permission to speak. Why bring race into it? I work in a man’s industry and have never had an issue about when to speak up even if it was flat out interrupting them just so I could be heard. The less you are afraid to speak out towards… https://t.co/AfzUZDERPw
— ☘️IrishCountryChick33🍀 (@smckee3393) February 19, 2023
“Why not all woman?? [sic] Im so sick of the one sided narrative …holy crap,” another user noted.
The phrasing suggests that leftists have grown accustomed to utilizing racist language and categorizing Americans based on their skin color, which could explain why there was no pushback when the Vice President of the “United” States shared an explicitly racist and sexist tweet, the Western Journal opined. The message conveyed the notion that Harris had no uplifting or encouraging words for women and girls of various ethnicities or men of any race, it added.
There have been a number of reports over the past several months that President Joe Biden was considering replacing the unpopular vice president on his 2024 reelection ticket. In fact, some Democratic operatives and left-leaning journalists have outright called for him to replace her.
Political pundit and conservative commentator Mike Miller opined in a piece for Red State that he believes the unpopular vice president could be replaced, but Biden would be met with accusations of being a misogynist and a racist even if she was replaced by another black woman.
