Janet Jackson’s Kamala Harris Remarks Spark Backlash

Singer and actress Janet Jackson’s recent remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity has sparked backlash online.
Harris, who became the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, is set to face off against former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, in November.
However, as both candidates aim to reach voters in the Black community, Harris’ racial identity has become a consistent talking point as she, if elected, would be the first Black American woman and the first South Asian American to be president of the United States.
Harris, who has long expressed pride in her heritage being a biracial woman, was born to Indian and Jamaican immigrants. She is the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother. She has said that her mother deliberately raised her and her sister as Black because of how the world would see them.
In an interview with The Guardian on Saturday, Jackson, the younger sister of singer Michael Jackson, spoke about her career, family, and the election as she was asked by Nosheen Iqbal, host of The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast, about Harris being on the verge of being voted the first Black female president.
“Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian. Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,” she coughs. “I was told that they discovered her father was white,” Jackson said.
Iqbal pushed back and said, “Harris has dual heritage, I say, and, given this moment, does Jackson think America is ready for her?”
Jackson, however, distanced herself from the question, “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem. I think there might be mayhem. Either way it goes, but we’ll have to see.”
Newsweek has reached out to Harris campaign via email for comment.
Since Jackson’s remarks some have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize the singer for not being informed before speaking on the issue.
X user Leah wrote, “Janet Jackson is one of the most influential people in music history. It was simply irresponsible of her to repeat something she ‘heard’ regarding the very thing that they use against Kamala! Her own race. We are less than 50 days away from the election. We gotta talk smarter!”
Journalist Yashar Ali wrote on X, “It’s clear that Janet Jackson has been reading things in the dark corners of the internet and that makes me very sad.”
TV host and X user Brandon Pope TV wrote, “We have a misinformation crisis in America. And it’s been created and fueled with intention to sow distrust. It’s unfortunate to hear such a high profile person like Janet Jackson parroting it, but it’s a reminder of how far reaching it can get.”
Meanwhile, X user Asa khalif commented, “Still love @JanetJackson.”
Jackson’s remarks come after Trump caused outrage when he questioned Harris’ Black identity during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in July.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she became a Black person.”
His comments have been condemned by many, including White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. During a briefing with reporters, Jean-Pierre said the former president’s questioning of Harris’ racial identity was “repulsive” and “insulting.”
Jackson’s remarks also comes less than a week since Harris spoke to a three-journalist panel at a NABJ event on Tuesday in which she was asked about young Black male voters who may feel left out from the current economy and back her opponent.
According to a poll released last week by the NAACP, the overall result showed a 63 percent favor for Harris compared to Trump’s 13 percent support among Black voters. However, the gender disparity is noticeable. While support for Harris among Black women remains strong at 67 percent, it falls to 49 percent among Black men under 50.
In response Harris said, “Black men are like any other voting group. You’ve got to earn their vote. I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming that I would have it because I’m Black, but because the policies and the perspectives that I have understands what we must do to recognize the needs for all communities.”