It’s Not Sexist for Men to Criticize Kamala on Policy and Character

In 2016 I was one of millions of men and women who supported Bernie Sanders during the Democratic Party primary. There were many reasons why I didn’t support Hillary. To name a few: her legalized bribes from Wall Street and her vote for the Iraq War.

In response to these policy and character-focused criticisms, many Hillary supporters — including women I worked with — dismissed the Bernie coalition as a bunch of “Bernie Bros” who didn’t like Hillary because of her gender. There are sexist people in every political movement, but the Hillary campaign was not able to prove that the average Bernie supporter was particularly sexist.

Now Kamala is the Democratic Party candidate, and I’m experiencing major déjà vu. Like Hillary, Kamala receives legalized bribes from PACs, Super PACs and billionaires. During her tenure as California Attorney General, Harris declined to prosecute former OneWest Bank CEO Steve Mnuchin, who had violated California foreclosure laws. Mnuchin later donated to Harris’ Senate campaign. Harris has supported all of our recent wars, and she has not expressed a clear plan to end the regional war in the Middle East.

When members of my political coalition criticize Harris’ policies and character, one of the go-to defenses is to call us sexist. The identity politics shielding game is worse than in 2016 because Kamala is both a woman and a person of color. Call Kamala out for flip flopping on a position such as Medicare for All, and you can expect at least a few members of the KHive to call you both sexist and racist.

Acknowledging the Actual Sexist and Racist Attacks

To be fair to Kamala, there are some attacks out there that are genuinely sexist and/or racist. Some Trump fans have shamed Kamala for her alleged affair with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. It’s sexist to shame Kamala for an alleged affair while disregarding Trump’s alleged affair.

Other Kamala opponents have denied she is Black at all, despite her father being Jamaican. As a biracial person myself, I have defended Kamala on this issue. Clearly she is Black and Indian. There’s no need to choose one half and delete the other from the conversation. I am half white (Ashkenazi specifically) and half Arab (Lebanese), and I don’t appreciate when people say I am only allowed to identify with one ethnicity.

These are the attacks that deserve condemnation. Men with policy and character concerns should not be treated the same as men who single out Kamala for being a Black/Indian woman.

It’s About Being Against Identity Politics Voting, Not Women or People of Color

I do not vote for people based on their identity politics. I don’t care about how they look, what their voice sounds like, how old they are, their sexual orientation, where they’re from, whether they’re religious, etc. I vote based on political principles and how much I trust the candidate.

This presidential election cycle, most members of my political coalition are supporting Jill Stein, who happens to be an old white woman. Obviously we don’t have a problem with the idea of women being president. Cornel West, an old Black man, was actually the original Green Party nominee for this cycle, but he left the ticket, and his campaign has not gained as much momentum as Stein’s. I probably would’ve voted for West, too.

As for women of color, there are amazing people I deeply respect and would vote for if they were on my ballot or if I felt like writing them in would disrupt the two-party system more than Jill Stein. Claudia De la Cruz and Kshama Sawant are the two who come to mind right now.

When people call us men sexist or racist because of policy and character critiques, we need to stand strong. People use these types of accusations to deflect from legitimate concerns about political corruption, to distract from meaningful conversations about political strategy. If you feel guilty for not being enthusiastic about Kamala’s campaign just because she’s a Black woman, you’ve allowed the bad faith attacks to win.

Editorial Note: Photo Credit to Alex Wong and Getty Images