"According to MAGA Bob Marley isn't Black" — Internet floods with Jamaican singer's memes after Donald Trump's remarks about Kamala Harris

Social media saw a resurgence of Bob Marley-related memes after Republican nominee Donald Trump contested US Vice President Kamala Harris's racial identity. During a panel at Chicago's National Association of Black Journalists convention on July 31, 2024, Trump alleged that Harris "happened to turn Black" after identifying herself as an Indian for years.

Rachel Scott, an ABC News correspondent, asked Trump if he believed Harris was able to run for president solely because she was a Black woman, to which he replied:

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Trump's remarks sparked outrage on social media, with many people comparing Harris to Jamaican singer Bob Marley. One X user tweeted:

People elaborated on the comparison, pointing out the irony of Marley being widely considered Black while Trump's supporters constantly questioned Harris's racial identity.

"Hoping some moronic MAGAs that can't understand how Kamala is black with this comparison Kamala: Father-Jamaican; Mother-Indian (Asian) Bob Marley: Mother-Jamaican; Father-Ultra White British Is Bob Marley black?" one person tweeted.

"I need to see the moment when they go up to a Jamaican man and tell him that he and his kids aren't Black and furthermore, Bob Marley and his kids aren't Black," another person added.

"Bob Marley had a White Father and Kamala has an Indian Mother, so according to the Blackness police who say mixed people aren’t Black, they’re not Black either," someone else tweeted.

"MAGA: Kamala is not black, she is Jamacian. Imagine telling Bob Marley, who is Jamaican and made 100% of his songs about black people and the black race, that he is not black," another netizen wrote.

Others lamented the US's poor education system for not properly teaching people about racial identities and heritage.

"I am weeping for our educational systems that folks don’t know that JAMAICANS of African descent, who birthed an entire religion (Rastafarians) rooted in Black liberation, are Black and proudly consider themselves Black. The nation that birthed MARCUS GARVEY and BOB MARLEY," one user wrote.

"I think the whole race play / identity crisis angle is played out. Obama is biracial, J. Cole, Kamala Harris, Bob Marley, Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, Lenny Kravitz, Sade, Tiger Woods, Colin Kaepernick… etc. That does not invalidates or diminishes their blackness!" added someone else.

"The hubbub about Kamala Harris' race is hilariously dumb given how many prominent & important black Americans were born in the Caribbean or descended from Caribbean immigrants. Shirley Chisholm, Colin Powell, Sidney Poitier, Sheila Jackson Lee, Bob Marley, Grace Jones, etc," another netizen wrote.

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Bob Marley and Kamala Harris both have Jamaican parents

The comparison between Marley and Harris rose on social media as they both have Jamaican ancestry. While Harris has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, Marley's father was white and his mother was Jamaican.

Kamala Harris's race has been the subject of speculation since President Joe Biden endorsed her as the Democratic nominee for the upcoming November elections. Several Trump supporters have accused the VP of not being a Black woman.

However, Harris has always embraced her mixed heritage. While both she and her sister had Indian names, she said her mother brought them up as "confident, proud Black women." In her 2019 memoir The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, she wrote:

"She [Harris's mother] knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women."

During the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday, Donald Trump was asked whether he considered Harris a "DEI" (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) hire, to which he replied, "I really don't know, could be."

Kamala Harris responded to Trump questioning her racial identity at the panel, adding it was "the same old show" and that America deserved better than his "divisiveness and disrespect."

Trump has made several statements attacking people's racial identity in his previous runs for President. He went after former President Barack Obama for his birth certificate, falsely accusing him of not having been born in the US.