--- title: Women of Color Offer Advice to Kamala Harris description: Women of color say they are bracing for Harris to face more racist and sexist attacks from Trump. Their advice to her: Don't take the bait. canonical: https://time.com/7014464/kamala-harris-trump-racism-sexism/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-08-24T12:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:46.382Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Women of Color Want Harris to Handle Racist and Sexist Attacks og:description: At the prospect of more racist, sexist attacks against Harris in the coming weeks, this was the advice DNC attendees had for her: Don't take the bait og:url: https://time.com/7014464/kamala-harris-trump-racism-sexism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3acd0052a9c935f/698a5a3816d8844ad3c3f02f/GettyImages-2167678949.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris Holds Campaign Rally In Milwaukee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Women of Color Want Harris to Handle Racist and Sexist Attacks twitter:description: At the prospect of more racist, sexist attacks against Harris in the coming weeks, this was the advice DNC attendees had for her: Don't take the bait twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3acd0052a9c935f/698a5a3816d8844ad3c3f02f/GettyImages-2167678949.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘Act Like You Didn’t Even Hear’: Harris Fans Don't Want Racist, Sexist Attacks to Distract Her > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: ‘Hope Is Making a Comeback’: The Biggest Moments From Michelle Obama’s 2024 DNC Speech [Watch (HLS stream): ‘Hope Is Making a Comeback’: The Biggest Moments From Michelle Obama’s 2024 DNC Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/b4xhimBG.m3u8) (5:11)  _Published 2024-08-21. Former First Lady Michelle Obama stepped back into the political spotlight on Tuesday night, returning to her hometown of Chicago to rally support for Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention._ by [Brian Bennett/Chicago](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/) and [Nik Popli/Chicago](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/) Aug 24, 2024 12:00 PM UTC  Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Milwaukee during the scheduled during the Democratic National Convention on August 20, 2024 Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Milwaukee during the scheduled during the Democratic National Convention on August 20, 2024 Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images by [Brian Bennett/Chicago](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/) and [Nik Popli/Chicago](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/) Aug 24, 2024 12:00 PM UTC Donald Trump stunned a roomful of Black journalists in late July when he claimed Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black” a few years ago. The former President has also in recent weeks repeatedly mispronounced Harris' first name and said she would be treated as a [“play toy”](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-harris-play-toy-world-leaders-elected-rcna164483) by world leaders. The first woman of color running as a major party's presidential nominee is expected to continue to draw political attacks with racist or misogynistic undertones until Election Day. For many women of color at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, the advice they had for Harris for the next 10 weeks could be summed up in four words: Don't take the bait. “Some things you don’t even need to dignify—act like you didn’t even hear,” says Rev. Shari Nichols-Sweat, a 66-year-old retired high school music teacher from Chicago, who belongs to the same historically Black sorority as Harris, [Alpha Kappa Alpha](https://time.com/7002871/kamala-harris-speech-black-sorority/). Nichols-Sweat was at the United Center on Thursday night, having just watched Harris’ [convention speech](https://time.com/7014252/kamala-harris-dnc-speech-2024/). Speaking to the country, Harris described how she saw first-hand as a child the challenges her mother faced as “a brilliant, five-foot-tall, brown woman with an accent” who emigrated to the U.S. from India at the age of 19 with a dream to become a breast cancer research scientist. “But she never lost her cool,” Harris said. “She was tough.” Harris is taking the same approach. Instead of expressing outrage at Trump’s comments or calling them racist and sexist, she has often responded with a light touch, saying such comments are a part of the “same old show” of disrespect, and dismissing Trump and his allies as “weird” and Trump himself an “unserious man.” Harris will come face-to-face with Trump in a primetime debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, where he may further question her racial identity and level personal attacks against her in front of a nationally televised audience. She’s already doing debate prep sessions to plan out how she will respond to Trump’s tactics in person, according to campaign officials. Former First Lady [Michelle Obama](https://time.com/7013281/michelle-obama-dnc-speech-2024/), during her convention speechon Tuesday, addressed the racist rhetoric and attack lines that have been wielded against Harris, warning that people “are going to do everything they can to distort” her background and accomplishments. “My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this,” she said, before calling out by name Trump, who peddled unfounded “birther” allegations against Barack Obama. “For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black,” she said. Obama offered a piece of advice to Harris: “Going small is never the answer,” she said. “Small is petty, it’s unhealthy and, quite frankly, it’s unpresidential.” Like Harris, Angela Alsobrooks, a Democratic Senate candidate who had a primetime speaking slot at the DNC on Tuesday, could also make history this cycle as Maryland’s first Black Senator. She tells TIME the racist and demeaning attacks against Harris are a sign Trump’s worried about losing: “He attacks her because she wins,” she says. Harris’ candidacy has “excited and engaged people” and she “should continue to be exactly who she is and continue working,” Alsobrooks says. Alexandria Alston, 33, a fashion designer and embroiderer from Chicago who attended Harris’ speech Thursday night, said the Vice President is playing it right to not give Trump’s insults too much oxygen. “She is keeping her focus on what she needs to keep it on. Sometimes when people attack you, you have to look forward and not necessarily give them so much attention.” Those baiting comments were effective distractions in previous election cycles, Alston says. But she thinks this time is different. “You know this is a tactic of his, and so I don’t think we’re taking it,” Alston says. Rather than hurt Harris, the attacks diminish the one lobbing them, says Krystal Kidd, from Southfield, Michigan. "I’m really disappointed because I really thought he was a dynamic businessman once upon a time," she says. "They show he hasn’t done his due diligence to be competitive in this race." Like so many others at the convention this week, Kidd hopes Harris continues to ignore such efforts by Trump. "She doesn’t have to do anything to push back against him," says Kidd. 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