CHICAGO: The daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, both immigrants, Kamala Harris reflects the United States’ changing demographics.
When she steps onto the stage Thursday evening in Chicago to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination as their presidential candidate, she will represent the country’s fastest growing racial category.
Some 42 million Americans now identify as multiracial, or 13 percent of the country, according to the US Census Bureau. That is up from 2 percent in 2000 when the census first allowed people to select multiple races.
America has long been a self-styled “melting pot” of people who trace their origins around the world, but in practice some states legally segregated citizens by race until the civil rights laws of the 1960s and laws prohibiting interracial marriage were not overturned until 1967.
Social change since, though, has been rapid. Barack Obama was elected as the country’s first Black president in 2008, and Harris would be the first Black woman and South Asian if elected in November.
“We’re living in a situation 50 years later where we could be looking at our second mixed-race president, and it’s beautiful,” said Svante Myrick, president of People for the American Way, an advocacy group, whose father was Black and his mother white.
America’s future will look even more diverse. The vast majority of multiracial people are younger than 44 and a third are still children. The trend has been met by confusion, upset and worse from some of the US’s shrinking white majority. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump drew groans at a gathering of Black journalists last month when he falsely portrayed Harris as pivoting from Indian to Black.
“I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black,” Trump said. “But you know what, I respect either one.”
Harris has long identified with both her parents’ ancestry. In Trump’s remarks, some multiracial people saw echoes of their own experience of being asked to choose one or the other.
Harris’ upbringing makes her a better leader for America, Democrats in Chicago said.
“When you have individuals who carry multiple experiences in the same person, that’s an asset,” said Representative Maxwell Frost, who is Lebanese, Puerto Rican and Haitian, speaking at a Politico event on the sidelines of the convention. “That enhances her ability to legislate and advocate” on behalf of a broad range of Americans. The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment, nor did spokespeople for Trump. As the US becomes more diverse and multicultural, white nationalist groups continue to thrive online, pushing conspiracy theories such as the “The Great Replacement,” while some Republican lawmakers have focused on banning books and canceling classes focused on racial history.
Thousands of racial hate crimes are reported yearly, with 232 aimed at people of multiple races in 2022, the most recent year for which FBI data is available.
“Unfortunately, we’re really into a period of backlash,” said Matthew Belmont, a Dartmouth College history professor who has studied the demographic trend, despite the 2020 election of Harris as vice president and her administration’s elevation of racial justice priorities.
“So much of that was push back that really emerged in response to the Obama presidency and it was really stoked among people who are scared by the demographic trends in the United States.”
Tara Betrayer, an Afro-Latina and white conservative co-founder of political action committee the Seneca Project, said she was once attracted to the Republican Party in part because of its emphasis on color-blind policies.
“Do Democrats take it too far at times with the racial identity politics? Well, yeah,” she said. Now an independent, Betrayer said some of the Republican Party’s recent rhetoric on issues including illegal migration carried undercurrents of racism. Republicans reject those criticisms, saying their focus on border controls are aimed at securing the country for all Americans.
“This is really their last gasp at trying to stop the country from evolving, and I think they’re missing out on something that’s beautiful,” Betrayer said.
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Kamala Harris’ multiracial roots reflect changing US demographics
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Kamala Harris’ multiracial roots reflect changing US demographics
- 42 million Americans identify as multiracial, or 13 percent, up from 2 percent in 2000
- Harris would be the first Black woman and South Asian if elected in November
Millions are pledged to a Syrian Australian man who stopped a gunman and became a national hero
WELLINGTON: Like many Australians strolling at Bondi Beach on long, warm summer evenings, Ahmed al Ahmed just wanted a cup of coffee with a friend. Around him, a bloody massacre erupted as two gunmen targeted Jews during Hanukkah festivities at a park close to the shore.
Soon al Ahmed was creeping, bent over, between two parked cars, before barreling directly toward one of the unsuspecting shooters. In footage that has been viewed millions of times around the world, the 44-year-old father can be seen tackling one of the gunmen, wrestling the man’s shotgun from his grip and turning it on the attacker.
The story of the Syrian-Australian Muslim shop owner who put an end to the rampage of one of the shooters on Sunday has been seized upon by a country desperately seeking comfort after one of its darkest hours: the slaying of 15 people as they celebrated their Jewish faith.
Millions have been raised for Bondi hero
“At a moment where we have seen evil perpetrated, he shines out as an example of the strength of humanity,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday, as he left a Sydney hospital where al Ahmed is being treated for gunshot wounds. “We are a brave country. Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country.”
A fundraising page established by Australians who had never met al Ahmed had attracted by Tuesday night donations by some 40,000 people, who gave 2.3 million Australian dollars ($1.5 million). Among the supporters was the billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman, who pledged AU$99,000.
Father of two faces a long recovery
Al Ahmed, who is married with two young daughters, faces a long struggle ahead, those who have spoken to him since Sunday’s massacre say. He was shot multiple times in the left arm, apparently by the second gunman in the attack as the man fired indiscriminately from a footbridge.
He has already undergone surgery and more operations are scheduled, said Lubaba alhmidi Alkahil, a spokesperson for the Australians for Syria Association, who visited al Ahmed in a hospital late Monday. The “quiet and humble” man was conscious but frail and faced at least six months of recovery, Alkahil said.
A prime minister and a president are fans
In the days since the attack, a pile of floral tributes and notes of thanks has grown outside the small tobacco store al Ahmed owns opposite a train station in suburban Sydney. Meanwhile, he has received visits at the hospital from Australia’s leaders, apparently telling Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state, that he’d take the same action again.
He has been hailed as a hero by world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Australia’s Governor General, who is the representative of Britain’s King Charles in the country. Minns said al Ahmed saved “countless” lives in what the premier said was “the most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen.”
Al Ahmed was once a police officer
Al Ahmed lived in the town of Nayrab in Syria’s Idlib region before he arrived in Australia, his cousin Mohammad al Ahmed told The Associated Press. He left Syria in 2006 after finishing his studies, before the 2011 mass protests against the government of then-President Bashar Assad that were met with a brutal crackdown and spiraled into a nearly 14-year civil war.
Nayrab was heavily bombed by Assad’s forces with most of the town’s houses flattened and reduced to rubble. On Tuesday, al Ahmed was the talk of the town.
“Ahmed did really a heroic job,” his cousin, Mohammad al Ahmed told The Associated Press. “Without any hesitation, he tackled the terrorist and disarmed him just to save innocent people.”
Ahmed al Ahmed’s parents, who came to Sydney this year to reunite with their son, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that their son had served with the police and in the central security forces in Syria. Father Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed said his son’s “conscience and soul” compelled him to act on Sunday.
“I feel pride and honor because my son is a hero of Australia,” the father said.
Tale of heroism gives hope amid tragedy
In the aftermath of the mass killing, a country roiling from one of the worst hate-fueled attacks ever on its soil — allegedly committed by an Australian resident who arrived from India in 1998 and his Australian-born son — looked for hope amid their grief. Stories of heroism have started to emerge.
They included the tale of a married couple, Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were both killed while trying to stop one of the shooters as he climbed from his car and began the massacre, their family has told Australian news outlets.
Reuven Morrison, 62, was also killed while trying to stop the horror, according to his daughter, Sheina Gutnick. After al Ahmed wrestled the gun from one shooter, a person Gutnick identified as Morrison is seen throwing objects at the gunman — before he was shot by the second man.
Acts of courage like these were cited by many on social media and in news outlets as examples of what being Australian should mean.
“When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking at all about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,” Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed said of his son. “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another, especially here in Australia there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”
Soon al Ahmed was creeping, bent over, between two parked cars, before barreling directly toward one of the unsuspecting shooters. In footage that has been viewed millions of times around the world, the 44-year-old father can be seen tackling one of the gunmen, wrestling the man’s shotgun from his grip and turning it on the attacker.
The story of the Syrian-Australian Muslim shop owner who put an end to the rampage of one of the shooters on Sunday has been seized upon by a country desperately seeking comfort after one of its darkest hours: the slaying of 15 people as they celebrated their Jewish faith.
Millions have been raised for Bondi hero
“At a moment where we have seen evil perpetrated, he shines out as an example of the strength of humanity,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday, as he left a Sydney hospital where al Ahmed is being treated for gunshot wounds. “We are a brave country. Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country.”
A fundraising page established by Australians who had never met al Ahmed had attracted by Tuesday night donations by some 40,000 people, who gave 2.3 million Australian dollars ($1.5 million). Among the supporters was the billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman, who pledged AU$99,000.
Father of two faces a long recovery
Al Ahmed, who is married with two young daughters, faces a long struggle ahead, those who have spoken to him since Sunday’s massacre say. He was shot multiple times in the left arm, apparently by the second gunman in the attack as the man fired indiscriminately from a footbridge.
He has already undergone surgery and more operations are scheduled, said Lubaba alhmidi Alkahil, a spokesperson for the Australians for Syria Association, who visited al Ahmed in a hospital late Monday. The “quiet and humble” man was conscious but frail and faced at least six months of recovery, Alkahil said.
A prime minister and a president are fans
In the days since the attack, a pile of floral tributes and notes of thanks has grown outside the small tobacco store al Ahmed owns opposite a train station in suburban Sydney. Meanwhile, he has received visits at the hospital from Australia’s leaders, apparently telling Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state, that he’d take the same action again.
He has been hailed as a hero by world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Australia’s Governor General, who is the representative of Britain’s King Charles in the country. Minns said al Ahmed saved “countless” lives in what the premier said was “the most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen.”
Al Ahmed was once a police officer
Al Ahmed lived in the town of Nayrab in Syria’s Idlib region before he arrived in Australia, his cousin Mohammad al Ahmed told The Associated Press. He left Syria in 2006 after finishing his studies, before the 2011 mass protests against the government of then-President Bashar Assad that were met with a brutal crackdown and spiraled into a nearly 14-year civil war.
Nayrab was heavily bombed by Assad’s forces with most of the town’s houses flattened and reduced to rubble. On Tuesday, al Ahmed was the talk of the town.
“Ahmed did really a heroic job,” his cousin, Mohammad al Ahmed told The Associated Press. “Without any hesitation, he tackled the terrorist and disarmed him just to save innocent people.”
Ahmed al Ahmed’s parents, who came to Sydney this year to reunite with their son, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that their son had served with the police and in the central security forces in Syria. Father Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed said his son’s “conscience and soul” compelled him to act on Sunday.
“I feel pride and honor because my son is a hero of Australia,” the father said.
Tale of heroism gives hope amid tragedy
In the aftermath of the mass killing, a country roiling from one of the worst hate-fueled attacks ever on its soil — allegedly committed by an Australian resident who arrived from India in 1998 and his Australian-born son — looked for hope amid their grief. Stories of heroism have started to emerge.
They included the tale of a married couple, Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were both killed while trying to stop one of the shooters as he climbed from his car and began the massacre, their family has told Australian news outlets.
Reuven Morrison, 62, was also killed while trying to stop the horror, according to his daughter, Sheina Gutnick. After al Ahmed wrestled the gun from one shooter, a person Gutnick identified as Morrison is seen throwing objects at the gunman — before he was shot by the second man.
Acts of courage like these were cited by many on social media and in news outlets as examples of what being Australian should mean.
“When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking at all about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,” Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed said of his son. “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another, especially here in Australia there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”
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