Selling imperialism: Kamala Harris, Pop Culture, and Palestine
The political sphere has never been more intertwined with pop culture than it is right now. In a world where presidential campaigns are launched on children’s apps and politicians are turned into memes, it’s more important than ever to navigate this landscape carefully. While it is easy to enjoy these memes, we must remain vigilant against becoming unwitting tools for propaganda and imperialism.
As we approach the 2025 U.S. presidential election, discourse surrounding Kamala Harris’ fit for presidency has emerged. Amid tensions from global crises, including Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and Hurricane Helene, election discourse has never been more polarised.
One key strategy political figures like Harris have resorted to, is pandering to the younger generations through pop culture tactics that are proving to be effective in securing votes. Pop culture has become the tool of choice for rebranding political personas, blurring the lines between governance and entertainment.
Take, for instance, Charli XCX’s album cover for Brat, featuring a simple lime-green background with lowercase Arial font text, which took the internet by storm. The album's popularity sparked a trend, with people adding their own text to the iconic image. The term "brat" evolved into a positive label, with Charli XCX herself endorsing Harris via X as a "brat."— introducing the term into political discourse where its been used ever since.
While the convergence of pop culture and politics facilitates greater political engagement among younger audiences, it also raises concerns about the trivialisation of urgent, serious issues and the weaponisation of identity to stifle criticism. Increasingly, politicians rely on curated narratives to cultivate favourable perceptions, often obscuring their actual records and decisions. This shift not only commodifies political discourse but also risks reducing meaningful critique to mere entertainment.
An unexpected participant in this trend was NATO’s official Instagram account, which posted the same lime-green square with the word “peace”.
This is the same NATO—the military alliance that carried out a 78-day aerial bombing campaign of Belgrade, killing 2,500 people according to Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić. Here we see in real time, how the use of pop culture in politics allows political actors to leverage trends to trivialise real-life conflicts, softening their image and making them appear benign, even progressive.
Kamala Harris’s political career reflects this same trend. In the 2020 election when Harris sold many of us on the image of a progressive “girl boss”— a powerful woman of colour in a position of authority. Her past as California Attorney General was brushed under the rug, where she fought to keep nonviolent prisoners incarcerated, and endorsed policies that fueled the prison industrial complex, disproportionately incarcerating lower-income minorities for nonviolent crimes such as marijuana possession. A system that disproportionately affects Black Americans, who are arrested for marijuana possession almost four times more than white Americans, despite similar rates of consumption.
The narrative of being a powerful Black woman for the people may have worked back then, but dissent is growing as Harris continues to manoeuvre around issues rather than taking direct, meaningful action. Her staunch support for Israel, despite her performative sympathy for Palestinians, has exposed the inconsistencies between her public persona and the realities of her political decisions.
Just a few weeks ago, during the presidential debate, she reaffirmed her stance, stating, “I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself.”
Her unwavering position has real-life implications. Support groups like “Muslim Women for Harris” are disbanding and withdrawing their support after Harris denied a Palestinian speaker at the Democratic convention, where she responded to pro-Palestinian protestors’ chants with, “I am speaking now.” Harris implicitly plays into misogyny tropes and weaponises her identity, portraying protestors, some of whom are mourning Palestinians, as anti-women, hostile to strong women in power. She capitalises on identity politics.
Slowly, we begin to see that these are not isolated incidents, and the disingenuous intentions of the Democratic Party become clear.
Her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has also had his own share of problematic statements. During the vice presidential debate on CBS, he stated. “The expansion of Israel and its proxies is an absolute, fundamental necessity.” This comes as the death toll in Gaza exceeds an estimated 120,000 deaths, including indirect causes.
Walz, portrayed by the Democratic Party as a wholesome, uncle-like figure— with some social media users referring to him as a “dad”— was also governor during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, where police fired rubber-coated bullets at protestors. One demonstrator told Amnesty International that his “eye exploded from the impact.’”
Walz praised the conduct of Minnesota’s first responders, saying he was proud of them, “from firefighters to police to the National Guard,”
Kamala Harris has set the precedent for this new era in politics, hijacking identity and pop culture and weaponising them for political gain.
What bothers me is the co-opting of movements that are meant to bring about genuine change. Any criticism of the Democratic Party, particularly of Kamala Harris, is often met with the knee-jerk accusations of supporting the Republican Party or being discriminatory. This shuts down valid criticism of politicians who are meant to serve the people.
Politicians are increasingly seen as entertainers rather than public servants, setting a dangerous precedent where they can entertain and pacify you with empty words while signing off on bills that harm you.
We all need to recognise what's truly beneficial and strive for an equitable future where progress is not symbolised by figureheads but by meaningful change. I want us to dream bigger than a black woman committing genocide.
references
Al Mayadeen English. (2023, March 25). Remembering NATO’s monstruous bombing of Yugoslavia: 24th anniversary. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/remembering-natos-monstruous-bombing-of-yugoslavia:-24th-ann
Amnesty International. (2023, March 14). Global: Dozens killed and thousands maimed by police misuse of rubber bullets - Amnesty International Australia. Amnesty International Australia. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://www.amnesty.org.au/global-dozens-killed-and-thousands-maimed-by-police-misuse-of-rubber-bullets/
deHahn, P. (2024, October 8). Israel-Gaza war death toll exceeds 120,000 if indirect causes are included, study finds. The National. https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/10/08/israel-gaza-war-death-toll-exceeds-120000-if-indirect-causes-are-included-study-finds/
Egwuonwu, N., Frankel, J., & Gutierrez, G. (2024, August 8). “I’m speaking!” Harris tells protesters at her campaign rally. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kamala-harris-rally-michigan-interrupted-palestinian-protesters-rcna165675
Karnowski, S., & Goldberg, M. (2024, September 7). Divisions persist over Tim Walz’s response to George Floyd protests | AP News. AP News. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://apnews.com/article/walz-george-floyd-riots-minnesota-national-guard-2b9b0bf883828e0429c379843f16005d
New ACLU report: Despite marijuana legalization Black people still almost four times more likely to get arrested | American Civil Liberties Union. (2020, April 20). [Press release]. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/new-aclu-report-despite-marijuana-legalization-black-people-still-almost-four-times
Sammon, A. (2020, July 30). How Kamala Harris fought to keep nonviolent prisoners locked up. The American Prospect. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://prospect.org/justice/how-kamala-harris-fought-to-keep-nonviolent-prisoners-locked-up/
Walker, A. R. (2024, August 23). Muslim Women for Harris disbands and withdraws support for candidate. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/22/muslim-women-kamala-harris-disbands
Zivanovic, M., & Haxhiaj, S. (2019, March 22). 78 Days of Fear: Remembering NATO’s Bombing of Yugoslavia. Balkan Insight. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://balkaninsight.com/2019/03/22/78-days-of-fear-remembering-natos-bombing-of-yugoslavia/
