(Todd A. Smith/Photo Credit: Kevin Bussey for Bussey One Photography)
I am a man!
That was the mantra of the striking Black sanitation workers from Memphis, Tenn. in 1968 as they protested their inhumane treatment that led to the tragic death of one of their colleagues after a trash compactor crushed him to death.
That visual of dignified Black men holding signs declaring their manhood still resonates today because many still want to belittle Black men and women who stand up for themselves.
The latest to disrespect Black dignity are former President Donald Trump and his acolytes like Rep. Nancy Grace (R-S.C).
Nandika Chatterjee of Salon reported, “A CNN panel went off the rails on Thursday after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., repeatedly mispronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’ name.
“A panel discussion veered off course when Mace adamantly mispronounced Harris’ name, despite her fellow panel members—Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and Vanderbilt University professor Michael Eric Dyson—politely correcting her.”
However, Mace responded to their corrections by saying, “I will say Kamala’s name any way I want to.”
Dyson said, “The congresswoman is a wonderful human being. But when you disrespect Kamala Harris by saying you will call her whatever you want, I know you don’t intend it that way, that’s the history and legacy of White disregard for the humanity of Black people.”
Mace got upset because she believed Dyson called her a racist.
But history will show Dyson as correct in his assessment of Mace disregarding the humanity of Black people by not correctly addressing them because that reality is steeped in racism and White supremacy.
Mace would later go on to refer to Dyson and Boykin as boys in a social media post.
By mispronouncing names and referring to men as boys, many on the right are signaling a lack of respect for strong and powerful Black men and women.
From the days of slavery to the Jim Crow era, Black men and women were hardly ever seen as adults by the White masses.
No matter how old, sophisticated or educated they were, they were still seen as shiftless and useless children to many from the White majority.
Therefore, they did not deserve the respect of the White man, White woman or even their White children.
Black adults often had to refer to White children as miss or mister, not just by their name.
Likewise, young White kids hardly ever, if ever, referred to their Black elders by miss, mister, sir or madam.
Black people were there to be used by White people.
They were never there to be respected or seen as a peer.
In fact, the White man would often change the name of Black people from their given African name to whatever suited the master’s taste during the days of slavery.
Therefore, “Kunta Kinte” became “Toby” no matter how many times he told the slave master what his name was.
That is in effect what Trump, Mace and others are doing with Vice President Kamala Harris’ name.
Like Mace, Trump makes it his business to mispronounce Vice President Harris’ name while disrespecting her with other insults like questioning her mental ability.
He then couples those insults by praising her physical attributes.
In the same manner, slave masters thought that their slaves were intellectually inferior.
But many slave masters must have thought their slaves were not too dumb to sleep with because many had romantic relationships with those slave women.
But to some White men, Black women can have beauty.
However, they cannot have brains too.
And in true American fashion, a minority can have all the qualifications for a job, but many Americans still see them as unqualified for the job.
Meanwhile, an unqualified White man like Trump in 2016 with no political experience can reach the Oval Office and those that would criticize minorities for their lack of experience remain quiet as a church mouse.
Harris served as a United States senator from California.
She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
Furthermore, Harris has served as President Joe Biden’s second in command for nearly four years.
Yet, people like Trump and Mace refuse to pronounce her name correctly or give her credit for her intellect.
While Harris’ first name might be fairly new and unique in American politics, people have had ample time to learn the correct pronunciation.
Therefore, those who still choose to mispronounce her name do so out of utter disrespect and disgust that a woman of color could soon become the most powerful person on the planet.
That reality is why the disrespect from the White community came about in the first place.
If the White majority could convince Black people that they were never to be taken seriously or respected, then maybe they would stay in their so-called place of subservience.
However, Black people never looked to the White majority for their validation.
And that is why people like Harris, and former President Barack Obama before her, refuse to kowtow to make believe White supremacy.
Unfortunately, the disrespect that many White people have shown the Black community has come back to bite many in the behind when some realize that power and leadership is not their birthright.
That realization has led to the childlike behavior by Trump now that he realizes that his reelection and subsequent retribution tour are not guaranteed.
That realization has led many of his supporters to embrace autocracy because a real democracy would level the playing field and not guarantee the continuance of White supremacy and White male patriarchy.
That reality has caused many Republicans to enact legislation that makes it harder to vote, while also trying to dilute Black congressional districts.
However, reality cannot be changed no matter how much disrespect one shows to the other side of the political spectrum.
And that reality is that Harris will become the 47th President of the United States.
Therefore, her critics better learn how to say her name now because they will hear it every day for the next eight years.
And her historical election will remain in the history books in perpetuity.
