Fact Check: Kamala Harris’ birth certificate used to discredit her Indian, Jamaican heritage

By Reuters Fact Check

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ birth certificate has been shared in posts online as proof that the Democratic presidential candidate is not of Asian American or Black Jamaican heritage.

‘CAUCASIAN’ MOTHER

Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, self-identified as Caucasian in her daughter’s 1964 birth certificate.

“Indians were classified as white/Caucasian in the US in the 1960s,” Prema Kurien, Daicoff Faculty Scholar at Syracuse University, said in an email.

“This is probably why Harris’s mother picked Caucasian as the term to use. That may have meant something different to her than ‘White,’” Kurien said.

CAUCASIAN, NOT WHITE

In 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Caucasian is not the same as white.

VERDICT

False. The word “Caucasian” in Kamala Harris’ birth certificate does not mean Harris is white, contrary to online posts that negate her Indian and Jamaican descent.

Keep up the great world Sherlock.