Days before Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden's running mate, a group called We Have Her Back sent a memo to news directors, editors, reporters and others putting them on notice about their coverage of the vice presidential nominee.
"Women have been subject to stereotypes and tropes about qualifications, leadership, looks, relationships and experience," they wrote. "Those stereotypes are often amplified and weaponized for Black and Brown women."
Among the leaders of the group is Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. She says their goal is to watchdog media coverage that relies on racial or gender stereotypes.
"Every single day in this campaign, journalists and opinion editors should be reminded that they actually have a role to actively ensure that their reporting and their content commentary is not sexist, is not racist," Graves said.
She said unless gender and race-based stereotypes used by the media against Harris are called out, "Then it becomes OK for a lot of other people. And that's why we had to name it for what it is and continue to say we have her back."
Shortly after Biden announced Harris was his pick, President Trump portrayed her as an extreme liberal who would support what he called socialized medicine and huge tax increases, neither of which Harris has endorsed. And on Harris’ role questioning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Trump said, "She was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing."
'Nasty' is a word Trump often uses to describe politicians and journalists, especially women of color.
Another offender, according to Graves, is conservative Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson. In his commentary one night, Carlson said, "America is indeed ready for a Black president. We elected one twice. But is America ready for a shallow and hectoring rich lady whose only real fans work at hedge funds and MSNBC?"
In an interview with a Democratic campaign operative, Carlson also seemed to deliberately mispronounced Harris’ first name and argued that saying it correctly didn't matter. Graves notes that the deliberate mangling of "Kamala" — which Trump also does — is quite intentional.
"I think that sort of mispronunciation is designed to 'other' her. It is designed to show that she is different," Graves said. "And it is designed to disrespect her. It is for sure racist and sexist."
