The White Women for Harris Call Sounded Cringe, But Seems Good

A star-studded Zoom call reflected on how white women have consistently played an unfortunate role in electing Republicans and raised over $2 million for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.

By Kylie Cheung  |  July 26, 2024 | 3:38pm
Photo: Getty Images Politics
The White Women for Harris Call Sounded Cringe, But Seems Good

One of the more annoying things that happens under white supremacy is when white people feel guilty about it, don’t know what to do with their guilt, act super weird, and make us all uncomfortable, while not helping at all. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to have been the case for “Answer the Call,” a Zoom event that gathered white women on Thursday night in support of Democratic presumptive nominee Kamala Harris. The digital event, hosted by Moms Demand Action’s Shannon Watts, drew over 160,000 attendees—apparently breaking the record for the largest Zoom call in history—and raised over $2 million for Harris’ campaign. It also featured guest speakers including Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, Pink, and Connie Britton, among others. The event follows a series of similar Zoom calls including one hosted by Win With Black Women and a Latinas for Kamala Harris call earlier this week.

“Time and time again too many of us vote against our own best interests and against the interest of Black women because we think White supremacy is in our own best interest,” Watts said, according to the 19th reporter Amanda Becker. To Watts’ point, 47% of white women voted for Donald Trump in 2016, compared to 45% for Hillary Clinton, while women of color all decisively voted for Clinton. Historically, a majority of white women tend to vote Republican.

Watts stressed that they—white women—must “make sure we are using our economic and political power to help elect Kamala Harris,” and added, “White women have fallen down too many times when it comes to voting for a presidential candidate.”

In Britton’s remarks, the actress at one point joked that they should be “Karens for Kamala,” calling on everyone on the Zoom to acknowledge and wield their white privilege in support of Harris’ campaign. Bird closed out the call by telling attendees, “For us, for white women, this is step one.” From her time in the WNBA, Bird said she learned “there were times to step to the front and lead” and “there were times to step to the back and follow”—supporting Harris’ campaign, she argued, requires white women to do both.

According to Becker, who said she’s never “been at or listened to an organizing event quite like #AnswerTheCall” in 15 years as a national politics reporter, the Zoom also featured “direct appeals to stop hiding behind white privilege” and “get out into the streets” to elect Harris. Becker elaborated, “They believe they are in a battle to save the world & will act accordingly.” I will say, I don’t love the idea of being “saved” by white women! Still, I can acknowledge that raising millions of dollars to stop Trump from being reelected and burning what little rights remain to us is certainly better than not doing that, or, worse, voting for Trump. I’m glad white women had that space to get together and roast each other and lay out actionable steps to avoid a repeat of 2016—and I’m also very glad I didn’t have to sit through it.

All of this admittedly sounds quite cringe, and I don’t think I would have lasted five minutes on that Zoom call. But, again: I’m glad they had that space! I’m glad that money was raised toward stopping a Republican presidency and Project 2025! And I also think being around all of that festering white guilt (even just virtually) would have made me physically quite uncomfortable—all of this can be true at once! Everything and everyone contains multitudes and something can be both cringe and a net positive in the world! 🙂

 
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