I Know Why Kamala Keeps Using Fake Accents

Hear me out...

Why does Kamala Harris seemingly put on fake “accents” when talking to specific groups?

Recently, Harris was accused of donning a fake accent when she seemed to affect a Hispanic lilt to her speech while speaking to a largely Hispanic audience. This comes after she took on a “blaccent” while addressing a group of union workers with a large Black presence. She took on a more southern version of that accent when speaking to a Georgia crowd back in July.

Republicans accuse Harris of pandering. Democrats and their supporters say it is simply “code switching” - essentially, speaking in a way that is coded for a particular group as a way to relate to that group. For instance, many Black professionals (like myself) reserve their casual speech for their community but adopt a more formal tone in the workplace or mixed company. This is a concept that could apply to any group of people, but I don’t believe this has anything to do with Harris’s coding.

I know exactly why she does this.

Despite the necessary pleasant veneer a presidential campaign places on a candidate’s childhood, from the little I’ve seen described Harris’ childhood was traumatic. Abandoned by her father, raised by a single mother, shuffled around from one community to the next, each with their own unique set of codes - Canada, California, Indian, inner city, suburban - her world was eclectic but unstable. To survive, Harris had to learn how to mirror the communities around her, to reflect their own images in a primal, instinctual attempt to be seen as a member of this new tribe and not an enemy.

Add to that the fact she is a child of a broken home. Those children often go on to become people-pleasers (I know this all too well). A child who is raised around adults in constant emotional or financial distress quickly learns that she is only safe when the adults around her are happy. She sets about making sure she can do everything in her power to make them happy. It is a personality trait with lots of positives, but quite a few negatives as well.

So, here you have a woman who was never allowed to sit in one particular community or another. She never had the opportunity to develop a cultural niche. She never had the opportunity to settle into an identity. And fathers are the most influential parent when it comes to the identity of a child. A child tasked with growing up without a father’s presence is a child who will always struggle to know who they are. Again…I know this all too well. Often, that child will end up taking on the personality traits of the person or people she is with. It’s another form of mirroring, making sure that tribe sees you as a friendly, but it’s also a subtle form of insecurity. Her personality isn’t fully formed, and so she must try on others for size.

This is how I see Kamala Harris, and it comes as no surprise that a little girl like that would grow up to become a California politician, taking on a job that requires her to appear as many different things to many different voters. It is also a job that comes with zero experience. There is nothing to sharpen the California Democrat. There is no curious or combative press, no accountability and there are never consequences for failure. These are all the experiences that shape personality and professional acumen. Harris has been party to none of these. Thus, she entered the job as an empty vessel and left the same way.

Now, fast-forward to Kamala Harris in 2024.

She is a woman who has quite shockingly stumbled her way to within a heartbeat of the most powerful position in the world. She is asking voters to give her a job that requires a lot of personality and a confidence in who you are as a person and an American.

As I’ve already established, Harris has neither of those things. All she has are the skills she has learned throughout her life to help her survive in places she didn’t really belong.

Mirroring.

Why does Kamala Harris use fake accents? To her, they are not fake. She is simply mirroring the audience in front of her as a tactic to gain tribal acceptance and project a familiar personality.

Kamala Harris doesn’t know who she is, and so she has no other choice than to be the person she is talking to in any given moment.

*Don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast, available wherever you find your favorite audio shows.