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Senator. Presidential candidate. Former Attorney General. Prosecutor. Howard University graduate. Wife. Stepmother. Daughter. Sister.
These are all fair descriptions of Kamala Harris, as she continues her race to the White House. The Democratic candidate field is far and wide, open for plenty of debate on how each one will handle national policies and if they have the stamina and moral authority to withhold the role as Commander-in-chief.
On Wednesday The Daily Mail surfaced video of Harris walking the red carpet with talk show host Montel Williams, along with his daughter Ashley in 2001. The two reportedly enjoyed a brief romance after Williams divorced his second wife, Grace Morley in 2000. While the optics serve as an interesting flashback to the early 2000’s, it points to the media’s glaring obsession with Harris’ love life.
Prior to that, Harris’ past in the 90’s was up for debate as it was revealed that she dated Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco. Brown also confirmed the rumors in an op-ed where he took credit for Harris’ rise in San Francisco’s political community.
But of all the criticism and critique that each candidate faces, I’ve never seen such focus on the past romantic escapades as I have when it comes to Kamala Harris. Ask yourself, do you know who Elizabeth Warren spent her time with between her first and second husband, or the former loves of Mayor Pete Buttigieg or Cory Booker?
The continuous mentioning of her past romantic exploits offers little to validate that she has long since moved on to marry entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff in 2014.
Why are we not exploring other more functional areas of her campaign like where she stands on the legalization of marijuana, the student loan debt crisis, police brutality, LGBTQ rights, or the Black maternal mortality rate?
You can argue over her controversial prosecutorial record, or her Senate voting record, or even on matters of race and identity. But the treatment that she receives regarding her love life follow the same flat and stereotypical objectifications that women in the workplace are reduced to: hair, clothes, and who they may or may not have had in the bedroom.
