Talk:Kamala Harris

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Q1: Why does Wikipedia say that Kamala Harris is African American/Asian American/South Asian American?

A1: Wikipedia content is based on reliable sources (see Wikipedia:Verifiability, Wikipedia:Reliable sources). Many reliable sources, over a long period, refer to Harris as African American and Asian American, so Wikipedia reflects that in this article. Moreover, Harris's Senate and campaign websites state that she is African American and Asian American.

Social media posts have inaccurately suggested that Harris cannot be African American because she has an Indian mother and Jamaican father. As PolitiFact notes, (see A look at Kamala Harris' multi-ethnic background and racial identity in the US, PolitiFact (August 14, 2020)), "this is a poor understanding of history, and ... the implication that Jamaicans aren't African or connected to Africa is wrong on its face." While not all Jamaican-Americans identify as "African American," Harris and many others do.

When Wikipedia describes someone as the "first" to do something, we default to the larger category. Therefore, while Harris is the first Tamil-American, Indian-American, or South Asian-American to be Vice President of the US, we describe her, as reliable sources do, as the first Asian American to be Vice President of the US.

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This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

This article has been viewed enough times in a single year to make it into the Top 50 Report annual list. This happened in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 25 times. The weeks in which this happened:

This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Aída Chávez (2 July 2020). "There's a War Going on Over Kamala Harris's Wikipedia Page, With Unflattering Elements Vanishing". The Intercept. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
Eric Ting (4 July 2020). "Someone is working very hard to dress up Kamala Harris' Wikipedia page, report finds". SFGate. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
Tyler Olson (6 July 2020). "Kamala Harris' Wikipedia page scrubbed of information amid veepstakes, igniting online fight". Fox News. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
Emily Jacobs (7 July 2020). "Kamala Harris' Wikipedia page has been edited over 500 times amid VP rumors". New York Post. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
Zachary Petrizzo (11 August 2020). "Trolls Are Currently Trying to Deface Kamala Harris' Wikipedia Page With Slurs and Other False Info". Mediaite. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
Joshua Benton (13 August 2020). "The Wikipedia War Over Kamala Harris's Race". The Atlantic. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
Bradley Cortright (24 January 2024). "Harris Complains About How Tall Wikipedia Says She Is". Independent Journal Review. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
Johnathan Jones (24 January 2024). "Kamala Harris Bothered by How Tall Wikipedia Says She Is: 'That Is Absolutely Incorrect'". The Western Journal. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
Reagan Reese (24 January 2024). "Kamala Harris Is Very Concerned About Wikipedia Trolls Making Her Look Short". The Daily Caller. Retrieved 26 January 2024.

Section sizes

Section size for Kamala Harris (35 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	7,292	7,292
Early life and career	230	33,958
Early life and education	15,806	15,806
Early career	3,169	17,922
San Francisco District Attorney (2002–2011)	14,753	14,753
Attorney General of California (2011–2017)	15,698	15,698
U.S. Senator (2017–2021)	33	50,502
Election	8,566	8,566
Tenure and political positions	2,216	38,773
2017	8,563	8,563
2018	8,747	8,747
2019	14,075	14,075
2020	3,974	3,974
2021	1,198	1,198
Committee assignments	2,409	2,409
Caucus memberships	721	721
2020 presidential election	33	20,960
Presidential campaign	13,246	13,246
Vice presidential campaign	7,681	7,681
Vice presidency (2021–present)	5,103	33,452
Senate presidency	8,640	8,640
Immigration	13,532	13,532
Foreign policy	6,177	6,177
2024 presidential campaign	9,122	9,122
Political positions	4,777	4,777
Personal life	9,824	9,824
Public image	9,197	9,197
Publications	811	811
See also	634	634
Notes	26	26
References	1,270	1,270
Further reading	353	353
External links	201	7,523
Official	286	286
Other	7,036	7,036
Total	205,399	205,399

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on October 20, 2021 and October 20, 2022.

Harris` interview on Fox News...

should be added, because of the clarification of her political positions. My poposal (without links to sources):

On October 16, 2024, during the presidential campaign, Harris took the opportunity to clarify her political position during an interview on Fox News Channel. “Anchorman” Bret Baier, who made the interview highly confrontational, turned it into a sometimes heated debate and raised questions related to illegal immigration, transgender health care for prisoners, and tax relief. On the important issue of the threat to American democracy, „the enemy from within”, Harris corrected the questioner and also stated that her presidency was not a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. She stands for a new generation and will bring her own ideas and experiences into office. In doing so, she has made it clear that she wants “not a repeat of Donald Trump, not the continuation of Joe Biden, but something new”. Peter Christian Riemann (talk) 13:35, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There is nothing to suggest that this interview will be regarded as an important moment in all of Harris' life. It might merit some mention on 2024 Kamala Harris presidential campaign. No need to refer to Baier as "the questioner", just use his surname. 331dot (talk) 13:40, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

i feel that it was a de facto second debate with a trump surrogate Nohorizonss (talk) 21:46, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Also this seems more about her campaign, so should be three, is anywhere. Slatersteven (talk) 13:41, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

But wherever (if anywhere) it ends up, it certainly can't be saying stuff like She stands for a new generation and will bring her own ideas and experiences into office. In doing so, she has made it clear that [whatever] in WP's voice. E Eng 05:49, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If so , the political positions article needs to be updated too Nohorizonss (talk) 07:10, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's not appropriate language; I think it should go on the presidential campaign page, as it won't seem very significant on the main page in a year's time. 300AD (talk) 21:38, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Undue weight to similarity to Biden's Platform

The similarity of her platform with biden's has been given too much weight imo by including it in the first line of the section. Even Hillary's platform was similar to Bernie's but it wasn't included in the first line but rather in another paragraph as an afterthought. Plus her recent policy proposals have key differences with Biden's. Nohorizonss (talk) 21:56, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Plus the article cited was written even before her nomination and just a few days after Biden dropped out. It wasn't even clear what her platform would be. It's outdated and not accurate anymore. In fact her political ideology is said to be similar to biden's on the main article not her 2024 platform which differs. Nohorizonss (talk) 21:58, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's there because as vice president, her views had to fall in line with the president's. GoodDay (talk) 22:16, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's her views as VP. Here'e we're talking about her views as presidential candidate. The concern that the source for "like Biden" is from before she was even the nominee is quite valid. If this is still true then there should be a recent source. I've removed the old statement. E Eng 22:35, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Coconut tree and accent

I fail to see the significance of this content in the article. In fact, I don't even the the point of either paragraph. They seem to be nothing more than standard, insanely shallow political nonsense. HiLo48 (talk) 23:16, 28 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@HiLo48 I think it relates fairly well under 'public image'. Yeah, some of it seems stupid, but I think that weirdly enough, it concerns people enough to have them feel differently about her. Honestly, I see no harm in having it. The article can have the facts and people can form their own opinion of the political weirdness from it. Coulomb1 (talk) 02:53, 29 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's just a single opinion piece by a right-leaning talking head dismissing the idea. If, as you say, it concerns people enough to have them feel differently about her, you should be able to find WP:SUSTAINED non-opinion coverage of it emphasizing its significance to her public image; but right now, the coverage makes it seem more like a single failed barb by Vance that failed to land. For articles on subjects this prominent, we don't cover every single political zinger that fell flat - only ones that got enough traction to have significant secondary coverage. --Aquillion (talk) 02:59, 29 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]