American commentator Candace Owens has carved out a reputation as a young voice of the right with a big following.

There are those who say she is one of this generation’s finest young digital broadcasters who has utilised internet platforms effectively.

She is articulate and telegenic. 

If she intends to have a long career she will have to demonstrate a deeper understanding of journalism and takes steps to temper her partisan outlook.

Candace Owens must not simply rush head first, to verify her suppositions.

Recently she has been digging into the family history of Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and with her findings has surmised that Harris who claims to be black is, in fact, not so.

She has looked at Harris’ grandmother’s, and the former prosecutor’s father’s birth certificates and dug even further, extensively one may add.

All this is commendable work by a journalist looking to find answers.

Owens concluded that Kamala Harris is hiding her true background and that her genealogy exposes her deceit. According to her, Harris is pretending to be black in order to court African Americans and get them to vote for her in November.

The internet commentator maintains that Kamala Harris is not a product of the American middle class but is part of the plantocracy, hailing from rich slave owners and so comes from those born into wealth and privilege.

For all this, Candace Owens has garnered clicks, likes and plenty of engagement. Some even say she has uncovered Kamala Harris.

This writer knows her father Professor Donald Harris and has done so for years. He is a black Jamaican, albeit light-skinned. He is an incredibly accomplished bright man… a good man.

Years ago, he told me he had two daughters who are doing well.

I was younger then and a bit facetious. I quipped, “Are they good-looking?”

He looked at me sternly, the way Don Harris does and replied, “They are accomplished… and yes they are good-looking. I am very proud of them.”

It was years later I came to realise one of the daughters was Kamala.

If you know Don Harris, there can be little doubt that his children are black.

Black Americans have very little understanding of the people of the Caribbean. Jamaica’s motto is “Out of many, one people.” It is one of the few places in this world that stands true. A Jamaican is not defined by race. There is no prefix before the word Jamaican. That is imposed by others.

Candace Owens herself says this all started when pop star Janet Jackson said she heard that Kamala Harris’ father is a white man and that she is not black.

Jackson, sister of the deceased entertainment legend Michael Jackson is reported to have said of Kamala Harris: “ She’s not black. That’s what I heard. Her father is white. I was told that they discovered her father is white.”

It’s like saying that Bob Marley is not black, he’s really white. Try telling Jamaicans that! 

There are many ethnicities in Jamaica and its people are not so hung up on race as in America. It doesn’t choke the soul of a nation as it does there.

There can be little doubt that Kamala Harris’ father Donald is black and her mother, is Indian. She is bi-racial and can claim both heritages. That is not perplexing in the twenty-first century.

Candace Owens has made a non-issue an issue. Kamala Harris is right not to take this on and give it substance. She has said her mother raised her and her sister as black children and was aware that the world would see them as such.

Given the time, that is perfectly understandable. Kamala Harris’ parents happen to be educated professionals, in fact, scholars. Her father is an economist who went on to become Emeritus Professor of Economics at Stanford University. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan was a breast cancer researcher (biomedical scientist). She was raised in a middle-class enclave, and she can relate to that. Her rise is the story of why America is such a great country and that the author F Scott Fitzgerald is wrong when he says, “There are no second acts in American lives.” Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan came to America as immigrants and had children who did well, became educated, and succeeded. But that leaves no impression on Candace Owens. Kamala Harris is the living embodiment of that second act, a chance to do better, make something worthwhile, even great. Kamala’s sister Maya is a talented lawyer. This is a family of substantive, educated people.

Could two young immigrants, coming from different sides of the world foresee that one day, one of their children would stand on the threshold of becoming the president of the United States? Perhaps not, but they evidently did something right. Their union did not last but what they created together may very well echo through eternity. If they could do this, so too can other hard-working decent people who value their families. 

Candace Owens has said that perhaps she should come to Jamaica and do some digging into the family history of Kamala Harris. Perhaps she should.

She would discover that birth and date records are not assiduously kept and that in many cases the accuracy of names, parentage, and birthplaces are not altogether dependable.

In Jamaica, the term “Mas” is one of respect and one that connotes deferring to elders. Today many men, more so those in positions of authority are called “Mas”. Yes, the term is an abbreviation of “Master” but down through the years, in Jamaican patois, it has transmuted to mean a man of authority, a man of distinction, a man of experience. The term is not reserved for only white people. In many cases, black men are called “Mas”, particularly in rural areas.

This is something Candace Owens has not grasped. There may be cases along Kamala’s lineage where men in her bloodline were called “Mas”, so what? 

Many Jamaicans do not know their family tree beyond their grandparents. There are instances where one assumes someone is a particular family member and that is just not the case. Many Jamaicans refer to close-knit folk as “Uncle”, “Aunty”, or “Granny“ but they in fact have no familial connection. This is part of the culture, the way of Jamaica. 

Looking to conduct an expose on Kamala Harris by taking the route Candace Owens has done, only takes her down a rabbit hole that really does nothing for her journalist credentials.

She has already gone down too many rabbit holes which are proving injurious to her career.

Take the case of Brigette Macron. Candace Owens looked into the camera and staked her career that the wife of the President of France was born a man and underwent a procedure that transformed her into a woman. She has remained adamant on this.  

Only last month it was widely reported that France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron was awarded damages over the false claim that she is a man named Jean-Michel.

Brigitte Macron pressed a libel suit against two women who spread the lie on YouTube. Owens continues to insist that Brigitte Macron is transgender. This is bizarre and Owens has no evidence to prove what she is saying.

YouTube has already shut down Owens and she now has to worry that she might yet have to face a crushing lawsuit from Brigitte Macron that may shut her down permanently with her credibility in tatters. 

Her claims about France’s First Lady are spurious and horrible. It is yet another case of false information broadcasted on the Internet by those who should be held accountable.

Candace Owens may have an angelic face but she is mean-spirited and dark-hearted. Now why do I say that? 

She took delight in the plight of the actor Alec Baldwin when what was supposed to be a prop gun went off, killing Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust”. Baldwin, a fine actor, had to face manslaughter charges. 

It was an accident with deadly consequences but there was no malice aforethought or intent to injure or kill. It was an incident you would not wish on your worst enemy, but Owens could only see a renowned liberal life being ruined and his family left in misery.

Here’s what she wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Great to see that Alec Baldwin is at long last being charged for killing that young woman.

“I hope they throw the book at him because he demonstrated dishonesty and utter lack of humility every day thereafter.”

Such is her rabid right-wing bias, that it obviscates her humanity and decency. Does she really think Alec Baldwin meant to kill that young woman? Does she think the man’s life should be destroyed as a result of a freak accident simply because he holds liberal views?

Baldwin’s daughter, Ireland Baldwin rightfully called out Owens on this, writing on X: “The most disgusting, hateful, cancerous human being.

“Regardless of your opinions most of the time, the fact that you would disrespect the life of a woman who was accidentally and tragically killed….Shame on you.”

Big respect to Ireland Baldwin for standing up for her father in this way. I do hope she goes on to have a fantastic career.

Instead of exhibiting contrition and remorse, Owens doubles down and again shows her hateful, ugly, nasty, awful character.

She replies: “Ireland Baldwin is in my DMs because I don’t feel bad for her psychopathic father. Feel bad for the victim, not Alec. He has always been a predator in Hollywood who was given a pass.” 

You have called the young lady’s father a psychopath and a predator, again unsubstantiated. Despite Alec Baldwin’s evident pain and sorrow, you feel no sympathy, you have no compassion, you can’t put yourself in his place.

Candace Owens must not let her success go to her head. She needs to grow up and not be so blinkered.

She was kicked out from the Daily Wire which was founded by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing because what she was saying was construed as anti-semitic by her Jewish bosses.

She suggested that the Israeli Government was committing genocide in Gaza.“ No Government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide ever. There is no justification for genocide.”

Then she went on to say, there are Jewish people in Hollywood and Washington DC into something quite sinister.

Given that your bosses are of the Jewish faith and culture, they would not take kindly to these utterances, given you work for them. It is understandable that they would be annoyed and peeved.

This is not to say that Candace Owens holds anti-semitic views, there is no evidence of that, but she does continually show this tendency to provoke and upset people. Is it her intent to monetise being a provocateur rather than settle for being a journalist?

She goes on to tell Ben Shapiro, “One cannot serve both God and money.” She is fully aware this would have a triggering effect. This is a clear dog whistle and someone is being a Smart Alec here, feigning innocence.

Shapiro quite rightly replies: “Candace, if you feel that taking money from the Daily Wire somehow comes between you and God, by all means, quit.” 

Touche, Ben Shapiro.

Candace Owens doesn’t seem to accept the reality of the situation. You work for the Daily Wire and the people who run things there are Jewish. Why make them feel uncomfortable in their own shop? Are you that insensitive? Is it all about your ideological disposition and nothing else?

She goes on to say, “If you do not step out and say things that are radically pro-Israel and if you are too quiet on certain narratives and they want you to be radically pro-Israel, you will lose everything.”

That’s not totally true. They would expect you to have a sense of decorum and read the situation. They didn’t hire you to insult their people, even though you know there are boundaries around free speech.

Or is it she believed the hype and got the notion she is bigger than the Daily Wire, no doubt determined by the millions of views she has? Has she prostituted herself for hits and clicks? 

To compound matters further she keeps up spats with Shapiro, signing off, “Christ is King.” 

Yet again the ugliness reveals itself. Yes, you are clever but you come across as vile and that is not an endearing quality. Sooner or later, you will come a cropper—keep it up! 

Earlier this month, she lambasted Professor Donald Harris, Kamala’s father as a communist. She is wrong. He is a pragmatist with an egalitarian bent. Given his age, he may have been curious and taken an interest in communism and its place in the world as a young man, but as his life went on, he did not adhere to rigid dogmas. Again Candace Owens castigates the man without making an effort to get to know him. If she did, she would find him to be highly intelligent, a humanitarian and a principled man.

This is how she labels the eminent scholar while being wrong and strong about it. “All that we do know about Kamala Harris’ father is that he is and was a radical Communist. That is a fact. It is not a fact that they can step aside from. He was very involved in the early Communist movement and so that should be of interest to people.”

This plays into her narrative that Kamala Harris has some kind of Communist leaning and lied about her background, feigning her blackness.

Again she announces vehemently, “Blackwashing is when you’re a politician and it’s election season and suddenly you have to relate to black people. So you just sort of start making stuff up to blackify yourself, your history.”

Really?

So who is Kamala Harris?

She is an American, with a black Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She is biracial and can claim both heritages. As far as I know, Kamala Harris has not denied any side of her ancestry. Her mother quite rightly raised her as black because that is how America, indeed the world would view her.

Candace Owens is married to a white Englishman. Her children are biracial. Given their advantages, one day one of her kids may become president of the United States. If she lived to see it, I wonder what she would make of the hullabaloo about the president’s racial identity. Perhaps It will be said, “He’s not black, I heard his father is a white man.” 

She would hope the world would be a little kind to her children and show them some graciousness. It’s not about the colour of a person’s skin but rather the content of their character. Candace Owens would do well to remember that.