Kamala Harris refers to herself as a ‘woman of color’. Is it okay if everyone else does too?

Kevin Mohatt/AP/AAP by Fethi Mansouri, Deakin University President Joe Biden’s recent decision to step down from the 2024 presidential elections in the United States and support Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee has led to a landslide of sexist and racist reactions. As a woman of Indian and Jamaican heritage, Harris is facing a flood of disinformation, stereotypes and deeply offensive racist slurs against her. These include suggestions her political rise is due to the fact she is a “woman of color” rather than because of her ability to govern. Harris proudly refers to herself as a “woman of color”, as do many feminist activists in the US and in Australia. So why the controversy around the use of this phrase? how does this have 1.1k likes lmao???? Kamala Harris describes herself as a woman of colour, it’s a common and accurate term as well??? https://t.co/KM5UK7KCpj — Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) July 22, 2024 To answer this, we need to take a quick look at the history of race relations in the US and put this phrase into context. The term “people of color” can be traced back to the 16th century, when European explorers used it to describe...