“Kamala finally has an online presence,” says Marlon Twyman, a professor of quantitative social sciences at USC Annenberg who specializes in social media analysis. “For years, her political activity and contributions have not been widely shared through online platforms. We are now paying attention, but how much time are people spending researching her impact?”
At stake is the legitimacy of Harris’s impact, especially among Black Democrats, a bloc without which she cannot win. “Are we critically examining what we see online or are we just passively accepting these narratives about her candidacy?” Twyman continued.
In the U.S Binary states and positions are a convenient framework in political warfare. Good guys versus bad guys. The elite versus the underclass. Blacks versus whites. Operating in the old ways rather than demanding new frameworks.
In reality, it’s never that simple. In Harris’s case, despite an initial surge of momentum, there are notable fissures among Black progressives who are speaking out online. On one side are those who believe they don’t have the benefit of “virtue voting,” as actor Nicholas Ashe said at a Zoom fundraiser, and that Black voters should support Harris no matter what. On the other side, voters have been more critical of Harris and slower to pledge their support, calling for a more imaginative political future.
“I hate to hear the lesser of two evils because we are threatened by fascism on the other side,” Ashe said on that video call, organized by Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris. He was careful not to completely excuse the vice president’s record or gloss over the difficulty of untangling important issues like reproductive justice, Palestine, immigration and the economy that are on the ballot. “It’s a tall order, but it’s one that Kamala will have to accept if she wants our nomination,” he said.
Others have been Less enthusiastic In the distorted landscape of American politics, many believe that a two-party system is the antithesis of real progress and tangible change. “If you lack political imagination, then say so. If you cannot imagine a different way of living, if you cannot imagine another way of organizing society, then say so,” said visual artist Ja’Tovia Gary in an article. Instagram postpointing out how exhausted she was by the “cyclical nature of electoral intimidation and humiliation” that occurs each presidential cycle.
When Harris issued a statement after a protest in Washington on July 24 about objections to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Congress and what The protesters believe A genocidal war is being waged against Palestinians, sparking anger from all sides. “(You) didn’t do enough on those Zooms,” @ashtoncrawley aware in X, alluding to the performative alliance that critics of the alleged candidate have pointed out. Others have saying Understanding the issue requires more nuances.
The online reactions around the vice president are not surprising, says James Pratt Jr., a criminal justice professor at Fisk University. Coalitions across identity and affinity groups are to be expected, he says, even more so given past failures to support Hillary Clinton or, more generally, to speak out in support of black women. Particularly in American politics, there is often a desire to contribute to weaving our shared history. It is natural to want to be part of something bigger than oneself. It is also “profitable, at least on the left, to be the ‘first’ and to be seen as someone who supports the ‘first,’ as history uses those cases as a basis for our collective memory,” Pratt says. “People want to be remembered. Being critical can cause distancing from that history.”
