This is the article that appeared in the June 2024 edition of Catalyst, our monthly journal. The date that prints out reflects the day that it was uploaded to our website. For a more accurate date of when the article was first published, check out the news release, here.
Just over a week before the 2020 election, vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris was interviewed by Harper’s Bazaar. “My message to the many women who will continue to break barriers and be ‘firsts’ in their fields is don’t give up, believe in yourself, and let your talent lead you.”
Recently, she spoke before an Asian American organization, saying, “We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open. Sometimes they won’t, and then you need to kick that f**king door down.” She then descended into her proverbial cackle.
What changed? The Kamala of 2020 spoke eloquently to women, encouraging them to “break barriers.” Now she’s using an obscenity to make the same point. Why the need to be low class?
Kamala’s learned a lot from her boss. In 2020, Joe Biden, who, like Trump, is known to be crude, told a Detroit steel worker, “You’re full of s**t.” The presidential candidate then put his hand in the face of a woman aide who tried to end the confrontation, telling her, “Hush! Hush!”
In his inaugural address, Biden said, “We can treat each other with dignity and respect.” He implored Americans to “Show respect to one another.” He also spoke about what defines us as Americans, listing “Dignity” and “Respect.”
When athletes get into a brawl, or when things get crazy in a pub, obscenities are often let loose. But we don’t expect the sitting vice president to intentionally drop the “F-word.”
When Kamala assumed office there were no end to the stories about her being a role model, especially for women and girls. She is aware of her status. She knows that what she says has an effect on them. But apparently she doesn’t care—she’s now contributing to the coarseness of our culture.
Perhaps this assessment is too harsh. There is reason to believe that Kamala doesn’t know what the word “culture” is.
Last year, she spoke at the Essence Festival of Culture. She described what culture means to her.
“Culture is—it is a reflection of our moment and our time. Right? And present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment and we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment. That is a reflection of joy. Because, you know…it comes in the morning. We have to find ways to also express the way we feel about the moment in terms of just having language and a connection to how people are experiencing life. And I think about it in that way, too.”
Midway through her statement she broke into uncontrollable laughter.
Kamala may be the only person on earth who believes that culture “comes in the morning.” We thought it was the sun. And if it “comes in the morning,” where does it go at night?
Kamala may not know how to define culture, but that is no excuse for corrupting it. She has won the race to the bottom.
