Shouldn’t The President Be Confident?
When she’s a Black woman, apparently not…
I ask this because Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has a problem with Vice President Kamala Harris’ “lack of humility.” In continuity with the Republican party’s theme of maligning women who don’t have biological children, Sanders attributes Harris’ “lack of humility” to her not being a mother.
As reported by Detroit Free Press —
In her remarks Tuesday night at the Dort Financial Center hockey arena in Flint before Trump joined her onstage, Huckabee Sanders began by saying that while she was proud of being Arkansas’ first woman governor and White House press secretary, “the greatest title I have is that of being a mom” to three children.
She then said her children keep her humble, remembering a time when she was preparing her daughter for a daddy-daughter dance and becoming emotional when the girl said to her, “It’s OK, mommy, one day you can be pretty, too.”
“So my kids keep me humble,” Huckabee Sanders continued. “Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
Girl, bye…
I, for one, don’t care what Sanders considers her greatest title or accomplishment to be. To be honest, I don’t care about her personal life. What does she do for the people of Arkansas? As far as a president is concerned, I care more about what they plan to do for the country than whether they have biological children or not.
Seriously, this is ridiculous.
Harris, who is a stepmother, has the support of both her husband and the mother of her stepchildren, Kerstin Emhoff.
On Tuesday night, Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, a film producer and executive who has voiced her support for Harris and pride in their blended family, chastised Huckabee Sanders’ remarks on social media platform X.
“Cole and Ella keep us inspired to make the world a better place. I do it through storytelling. Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working for the people, ALL families. That keeps you pretty humble,” Kerstin Emhoff said in the post.
I’m going to address people’s insecurities, and problems, surrounding a confident Black woman.
In the words of poet Maya Angelou in Still I Rise —
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
In America, many white people have a problem with a confident Black woman — examples include VP Kamala Harris, Angel Reese, Beyoncé, Serena Williams, and the list goes on and on and on…
Black women who are accomplished, confident, and unapologetic about it really ruffle the feathers of some white people.
It’s fine when a Black woman is humble, but she is not supposed to have confidence, and heaven forbid, be perceived as haughty. She is not supposed to shine. She is not supposed to be secure in herself, and her ability, and make it known that she knows she has it together. And if you have a problem with it, well, that’s just too bad.
Harris has had her qualifications questioned even though she’s more accomplished than Donald Trump and JD Vance combined.
She’s been criticized for the price of her jewelry and clothing items because Black women aren’t supposed to have nice things.
Harris devoured Trump during the debate. She stands ten-toes down on her assurance that she is qualified to run this country. Because she is. To many, she is not likable and relatable, and she doesn’t appear friendly or nurturing, and I’m sure she doesn’t care.
Huckabee, however, took it a step further and proclaimed that Harris should be “humble.” Humble/humility means having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance; of low social, administrative, or political rank; lower (someone) in dignity or importance. Synonyms include meek, deferential, submissive, self-effacing, unassertive, low-ranking, lowly, and lower-class. While humility can be a good thing, none of these definitions sound good, and Harris doesn’t need to be any of them. This is what Huckabee, however, wants from Harris, even though she doesn’t have a problem with Trump — the biggest narcissist to ever run for office.
This is misogynoir — the combination of racism and sexism.
It’s okay for Trump to boast that he’s the best president to ever live and that everything he does is the best and most beautiful. But Madam Vice President Kamala Harris can’t be confident.
Governor Huckabee’s words are, as the kids say, diabolical.
Furthermore, shouldn’t the leader of the most powerful country in the world be confident? When she meets with world leaders, some who are enemies or competitors, shouldn’t she command respect and authority. Should she kowtow to dictators like Trump does???
Kamala Harris is a strong and confident Black woman, and people are just going to have to deal, especially when she’s elected this November…
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Being a mediocre white man, I am thrilled that VP Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee. I am thrilled at the prospect of voting for her. I love her strong character, her confidence and intelligence. She will be a great president.
Tell it, Rosalyn! Sanders' comments are odious and pathetic. I don't want to comment on her own personal attractiveness (or lack of it...), but frankly, this smacks of jealousy. If Knuckaby Sanders feels, deep inside, that she is laughably deficient in style, grace, beauty and intelligence in comparison to Harris, it would certainly be an understandable and justifiable conclusion. But as someone who believes that the beauty of an individual is related to their internal qualities as opposed to their external appearance, I can only say that Knuckaby is a very ugly woman.