As VP Harris brings joy to the presidential campaign, the GOP’s taunt ‘laughing Kamala’ highlights a long history of disrespecting Black women

“As a professor of American studies with a focus on race and politics, I know that Black women in the U.S. have a history of struggle against violence and oppression. And too often when we experience joy, and show it, ridicule follows.”

With Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, Republicans are rebuilding a campaign strategy that for months focused on running against President Joe Biden. One emerging theme asserts that Harris laughs too much at inappropriate moments—part of a broader argument that Harris is “weird.”