*We told y’all last week that California Sen. Kamala Harris has attracted a new collection of haters even since she entered the 2020 Presidential race. Now the criticism is coming from someone closer to home, her own father.
Professor Donald Harris, Kamala’s Jamaican father, has taken offense at statements made during his daughter’s interview on the Breakfast Club radio show last week, specifically attributing her support for smoking marijuana to her Jamaican heritage.
Professor Harris responded to the interview in a statement to jamaicaglobalonline.com:
“My dear departed grandmothers(whose extraordinary legacy I described in a recent essay on this website), as well as my deceased parents , must be turning in their grave right now to see their family’s name, reputation and proud Jamaican identity being connected, in any way, jokingly or not with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker and in the pursuit of identity politics. Speaking for myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this travesty.”
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During her interview with The Breakfast Club, Harris was asked if she smoked marijuana and she replied, “Half my family’s from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?”
The lawmaker said she not only smoked but added “I inhale.”
Now it seems her comments have annoyed Harris’ father has “caused some unease amongst Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora,” V.G. McGee writes in a op ed piece published on January 12 in Urbanislandz.
Donald Harris previously penned a heart-warming account of how he raised his two daughters in an article titled “Reflections of a Jamaican Father.”
He writes:
“As a child growing up in Jamaica, I often heard it said by my parents and family friends ‘member whe you come fram’ (remember from where you came). To this day I continue to retain the deep social awareness and strong sense of identity which that grassroots Jamaican philosophy fed in me. As a father, I naturally sought to develop the same sensibility in my two daughters.” Continuing Harris says:
“My message to them was that the sky is the limit on what one can achieve with effort and determination and that in the process, it is important not to lose sight of those who get left behind by social neglect or abuse and lack of access to resources or ‘privilege’.
Read the full article by Donald Harris here.
