Articles Feature

‘A Prosecutor Running Against a Felon’

by richard01183

How Race, Gender Factor in Biden-Harris Bombshell

‘Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries’ Set Aug. 1

Homepage photo: (Credit: White House)

Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., talks with Nicolle Wallace Sunday about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to run against Donald Trump on the record of the Biden administration as well as on her own qualifications. (Credit: MSNBC/YouTube)

How Race, Gender Factor in Biden-Harris Bombshell

It seemed entirely appropriate that two Black women anchored their networks’ coverage Sunday of President Biden’s decision not to run for re-election and to support his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic presidential nominee. And that LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter, declared on MSNBC that this was “The Year of the Woman,” part of a conversation in which Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., came up with what could be the catchy slogan of the campaign: “A prosecutor running against a felon.”

The two anchors were Rachel Scott, political reporter for ABC News, who just a week earlier was on the scene in Butler, Pa., site of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump; and Ayesha Rascoe of NPR, who only Friday was the subject of a piece in Current, which covers public broadcasting, headlined, “How NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe is changing the sound of public radio.”

If Harris gets the nomination and defeats Trump, Harris would be the nation’s first female president, and only the second of color, after Barack Obama, being of African American and South Asian background.

“I have heard from more AKAs,” said MSNBC’s Joy Reid, referring to the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, one of the “Divine Nine” Black Greek organizations, of which Harris is a member. Agreeing, Brown told Reid, “My phone has not stopped ringing.”

As Alex Weprin reported Sunday for the Hollywood Reporter, “A week after the shocking assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life, TV news divisions once again spun into overdrive.” His story was headlined, “Biden Shocker Leaves TV News Channels Scrambling: Cable networks and broadcast news divisions had gamed out a strategy if the president stepped aside. They were still caught off-guard.”

Ditto most Black-oriented websites.

Less than a week after BET’s Ed Gordon snared an interview with Biden, the network was showing a movie called “Breaking In” when the news about Biden’s decision broke. BET “broke in” only to show commercials.

TheGrioTV, which provided pre- and post-show coverage of the June 27 debate between Biden and Trump that launched the calls for Biden to step aside after his disorienting performance, was showing a “Cosby” rerun when this viewer checked in later in the evening.

Biden posted his letter of withdrawal to the world at 1:46 p.m. Eastern time, according to The New York Times, and the Times posted a story at 2:20 p.m.

Walt Carr, who turns 92 on Aug. 26, is still drawing political cartoons. (Credit: Walt Carr)

By 4:05 p.m., ebony.com and theRoot.com had posted staff-written stories, though not the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which services Black-owned newspapers.

Most of the initial coverage was devoted to props to Biden for his decision, with Democratic party strategist Donna Brazile declaring on ABC how proud she was of his courage, but the journalists, in recording the reaction of various Democratic leaders, also noted which of them went on to endorse Harris, and which did not.

Issues of race and gender were foremost for many. An MSNBC panel consisted of four women — Rachel Maddow, Reid, Jen Psaki and Nicolle Wallace.

Biden’s decision was viewed through the lens of his desire to save democracy from Trump, but MSNBC host Al Sharpton also pointed out that “he opened the door for a Black president” not once, with Obama, but now potentially for Harris.

Historian Michael Beschloss, who said he was working on a book on race and American presidents, called Biden “a huge towering figure in the history of world democracy.”

On CNN, Black commentators Bakari Sellers and Van Jones, along with others, cited the “new energy” they were picking up among Democrats. However, Sellers also reported skepticism among some African Americans who told him, “They’re not going to elect a Black woman.” Thus, the need to “throw all caution to the winds” in campaigning. CNN analyst David Axelrod, a former Obama aide, stressed the importance of gaining support beyond the Democratic base.

In print, columnists from other groups weighed in.

“Donald Trump is the first convicted felon nominated by a major party,” LZ Granderson, who is African American, wrote in the Los Angeles Times. “He has been found liable for sexual abuse and business fraud. For stretches during his presidency, he had trouble denouncing white supremacy. Four years ago at this time, unemployment was over 10% and we were struggling to find hand sanitizer and toilet paper in our stores.”

Helen Ubiñas, who is Latina, wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “We better win — and in order to do that we better get it together fast. That includes people who say the right things in mixed company but do the wrong things when it comes time to vote.

“Yeah, I’m talking to nearly half of this country’s white women who voted for Trump in both elections.”

Ubiñas’ column was headlined, “We either want a dictator or a democracy. With Biden out, we have one chance to get this right.”

In a July 2023 interview with the ICT Newscast, Vice President Harris spoke about issues from the missing and murdered to judicial appointments. (Credit: ICT/YouTube)

For ICT, formerly Indian Country Today, Editor at Large Mark Trahant wrote, “The Biden administration’s record in Indian Country will be hard to match. He appointed more Native Americans to office than any of his predecessors, by a long shot. His administration invested more capital in tribal nations than any other administration ever. And again by a long shot. He has reshaped the federal judiciary with more Native American judges (although there is still a lot of work to do in order to reach parity with the population).”

Trahant also wrote, “What should tribal nations expect from a Kamala Harris administration? There is a lot to work with. As California’s attorney general she was perceived as being more focused on states than tribes. But that has largely shifted. She has very much been a part of the Biden administration’s focus on representation and investment.

“I think it’s also important to note that Harris is the only sitting vice president to ever sit down with ICT. In that interview with Aliyah Chavez, she talked about her views as a prosecutor on the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis.”

In the Advocate, which reports on LGBTQ+ issues, Trudy Ring wrote of Harris, “If she wins in November, Harris will make history as both the first woman to be president and first woman of color in the nation’s highest office — the first Black woman and the first one of South Asian heritage. She’d also most likely be the most pro-LGBTQ+ president.”

‘Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries’ Set Aug. 1

Please click here for larger image of flier/poster

The Journal-ismsRadio Ink: Ethics Inquiry Urged for FCC’s Carr Over Project 2025 Participation Roundtable will hold a panel discussion, “Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries,” in Chicago while the National Association of Black Journalists convention takes place in that city.

The Roundtable will not officially be part of the convention; instead it will be hosted at the offices of Chicago Public Media on Thursday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Central time. Chicago Public Media offices are on Navy Pier, at 848 East Grand Ave., Chicago, Ill., 60611.

The event is co-hosted by the NABJ Global Journalism Task Force. Those who are not in Chicago may join by Zoom. All are invited. To register for either in-person, Zoom or to watch on Facebook, please email blackruncountries (at) gmail.com.

After Black French journalist Olivier Dubois was held hostage last year for 711 days in Mali, West Africa, the press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders said, “To be a journalist in the Sahel means enduring the growing presence of radical armed groups who do not hesitate to kill reporters or kidnap them and use them as bargaining chips,” and more.

More recently, the rising authoritarianism around the world includes Africa as well as the United States. That most often means finding a way to tamp down, even silence, the press. Haiti’s existential crisis has been extensively reported, less so the state of journalism there and in the rest of the Caribbean.

Discussions about the African diaspora most often do not include press freedom, and journalism sessions in the U.S. about Black people often do not include a global view.

Panelists:

  • Zahra Burton, 18 Degrees North, Jamaica; Global Reporters for the Caribbean – founder and principal, Kingston, Jamaica
  • Muthoki Mumo, Committee to Protect Journalists – Africa program coordinator, based in Nairobi, Kenya
  • Garry Pierre-Pierre, Haitian Times – founder and publisher, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Nompilo Simanje, International Press Institute — Africa advocacy and partnerships lead, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
  • John Yearwood, Politico – editorial director – diversity and culture; formerly global chair of the Vienna, Austria-based International Press Institute and world editor of the Miami Herald
  • Richard Prince, Journal-isms columnist, moderator

It’s not too early to RSVP to < blackruncountries (at) gmail.com > whether or not you will be at the NABJ convention.

Update:

(Credit: Wallace House/YouTube)

Exiled Haitian journalist, NABJ honoree, joining Roundtable

Roberson Alphonse, this year’s recipient of the Percy Qoboza Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, has agreed to join the special Journal-isms Roundtable Aug. 1 in Chicago on “Press Freedom in Black-Run Countries.” 

“I’m honored by your invitation to join that panel,” Alphonse messaged. Commitment to “ringing the bell on press freedom, democracy in this era of disinformation, populism and the rise of authoritarian regimes is priceless. We have to deal with those issues while our profession is facing [an] existential crisis. We are in surviving mode in Haiti. It’s almost the same for local press here in the US.”

NABJ said, “This award recognizes a foreign journalist who has done extraordinary work while overcoming tremendous obstacles that contribute to the enrichment, understanding, or advancement of people or issues in the African Diaspora.

“Alphonse, one of Haiti’s most respected investigative journalists, is not only a fearless journalist but a brave soul. He survived a shooting attack in 2022 that left him wounded in both arms on his way to work at a Port-au-Prince radio station. Now a University of Michigan Knight-Wallace Fellow, he boldly continues to heal and continues his work as the News Editor for Le Nouvelliste and Information Director at Magik9.”
—

You can see a video detailing Alphonse’s story and journey to Wallace House here. 

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms+owner@groups.io

About Richard Prince

View previous columns (after Feb. 13, 2016).

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