What is Kamala Harris' connection to Africa?
The racial identity of US presidential candidate Kamala Harris is back in the spotlight. Donald Trump, her Republican rival, has claimed she misled voters about her true identity. Harris identifies as Black and has South Asian roots, but also has a connection to Africa.
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00:00She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage.
00:05I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black
00:10and now she wants to be known as black.
00:12So I don't know.
00:13Is she Indian or is she black?
00:14In the US, the racial identity of Kamala Harris is suddenly a talking point in the race to
00:20succeed Joe Biden.
00:22Harris made history in January 2021 as the first woman, black person and person of South
00:29Asian descent to serve as US Vice President.
00:32She is now the Democratic presidential nominee.
00:36And Donald Trump, the former president, who is taking one more shot at the presidency,
00:41is behind the disinformation.
00:44Harris was born in Oakland, California in 1964.
00:49She embodies a multiculturalism and grew up amassed in African American culture.
00:55Her father, Donald J. Harris, was born in Jamaica and her mother, Shamala Gopalan, was
01:00born in India.
01:02They met at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s and are naturalized
01:07US citizens.
01:09Both Harris and her father identify as black.
01:12On the Caribbean island where he grew up, Afro-Jamaicans represent the largest ethnic
01:17group.
01:18Many Jamaicans are descendants of enslaved Africans.
01:22Africa has been part of Harris' personal and professional life.
01:26As a child, she spent time in Zambia with her maternal grandfather, P.V.
01:31Gopalan.
01:32He had been seconded there by India to do relief work for refugees during the War of
01:37Independence in neighboring Zimbabwe.
01:40Harris has said the grandfather had a big influence in her life.
01:44Zambia was part of her itinerary in the three-nation Africa trip as Vice President in March 2023.
01:51Last year, she returned and toured the Lusaka area where her grandfather's home once stood.
01:57Harris has championed Africa-US relations under the Biden administration.
02:02In Zambia, Ghana, and Tanzania, she was greeted with the words, welcome home, and feel at
02:09home and homecoming.
02:11It was not unlike the reception afforded to Barack Obama, the first black US president,
02:16and the son of a Kenyan father.
02:19Donald Trump never made it to Africa as president, and Joe Biden only promised to visit.