Kamala Harris and Nikki Haley.Photo:Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Scott Olson/Getty
Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Scott Olson/Getty
While appearing onThe ViewWednesday morning, Harris was asked aboutHaley’s recent claimthat the United States is not and has “never been” a racist country.
“The history of racism in America should never be the subject of a soundbite, or a question that is meant to elicit a one-sentence answer,” Harris said before providing a lengthy rebuttal to Haley’s remarks. “But there is no denying … that racism has played a role in the history of our nation.”
Haley — who also faced criticism in December forfailing to acknowledge that slavery caused the Civil War— said during aTuesday morning interviewonFox & Friendsthat she experienced racism growing up as a child of Indian immigrants, but that “today is a lot better than it was then.”
Rejecting the idea that the Republican Party, and the country, are racist, Haley shifted the conversation to say that focusing on topics like race and gender divides people.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who previously served as South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty
Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty
Harris then widened her focus to address a growing trend among conservatives of avoiding important conversations about race and minimizing ugly parts of U.S. history — including in Florida schools, wherenew academic standardsrequire middle school curriculum to teach that enslaved people benefited from slavery.
“So, it’s unfortunate that there are some who would deny fact or overlook it when, in fact, moving toward progress requires that we speak truth,” she concluded.
source: people.com
