Los Angeles Times

Vogue cover least of our worries

- MARY McNAMARA

I want to be outraged over Vogue’s cover shot of Kamala Harris, soon to be this country’s first ever female, Black, South Asian vice president, I really do. I have worked in the news media my entire adult life and I have seen some boneheaded editorial decisions — and selecting a Chuck Taylors- fun photo, obviously intended for inside the magazine, instead of the more dignified, respectful and lovely portrait photograph­er Tyler Mitchell clearly considered his cover shot, ranks right up there.

And I agree with those who believe the choice smacks of racism and sexism; the editorial response about celebratin­g Harris’ “authentic and approachab­le nature” just made it worse — that’s what we’re celebratin­g about this hat trick of firsts? Harris is not the new head of human resources; she’s the vice president- elect.

So as I said, I really would like to feel outrage over what is a troubling and significan­t cultural moment. But I just can’t. I am too busy feeling outraged about too many other things, including that we are not being allowed to celebrate the many triumphs Harris represents because President Trump and his right- wing extremist supporters are instead forcing us to worry about Harris’ personal safety.

The days leading up to the Jan. 20 inaugurati­on of President- elect Joe Biden and Harris, who won a large and definitive victory de

spite many attempts by Trump and his enablers to disenfranc­hise millions of voters, have been blighted by the murder and mayhem of a thus far failed insurrecti­on mounted by Trump and members of Congress. Murder and mayhem that pose a credible threat to the lives of Harris and Biden as they prepare to take their oaths of office — thereby doing the will of a counted, recounted and, in several cases, hand- counted clear majority of the American people.

Their historic inaugurati­on was already going to be curtailed by a pandemic that — exacerbate­d by the actions and inactions of this president, members of his administra­tion and many of his supporters — continues to kill thousands of Americans every day. Even before Trump sent an angry armed mob to invade the Capitol, many intent on killing or harming members of Congress, Biden had been clear that his inaugurati­on would be a low- key affair. The parade would be virtual, the swearing- in small and compliant with safety restrictio­ns. No big, enthusiast­ic crowds, because such gatherings would put the people he has agreed to serve in danger.

Now, the threat of harm comes not only from COVID- 19 but also from hordes of insurrecti­onists unified and empowered by Trump, who will now be the first president in this country’s history to face impeachmen­t twice. Confederat­e f lags and other racist and anti- Semitic symbols marked the domestic terrorist mob that invaded the Capitol, revealing in no uncertain terms who they are — white supremacis­ts who see in Trump an authoritar­ian willing to enact their racist agenda.

Trump’s failed legal challenges to the election results — which morphed into Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley’s failed efforts to block certificat­ion of those results — heavily targeted ballots in cities with large Black population­s. Never before has “liberal” been so tightly tied to the will of Black, Latinx and Indigenous Americans in the eyes of those who fear the loss of a distinctly white power base in this country.

Does the Vogue slight fit into that narrative? Absolutely, and it is important to point that out. As we saw on Jan. 6, we must combat racism, sexism and authoritar­ianism wherever we see them. We must knock the cultural conversati­on sideways so that all the ingrained signals of disrespect and danger fall to the f loor to be swept away.

Unfortunat­ely, I — like so many Americans — find myself so physically overwhelme­d by anger and anxiety, fear and outrage that I can’t give proper attention to Vogue, though

I am very happy that others have done so.

Watching the fallout from the armed insurrecti­on, I am grateful to have democracy’s enemies — including but not limited to white supremacis­ts — so obviously revealed. And I’m horrified at how brazen we have allowed them to become. Never before have I felt so much pride in our democratic systems and such fury at their ability to be misused by those who seek to destroy them. Never have I been as happy to see individual­s, social media platforms and corporatio­ns finally act responsibl­y in their censure of Trump’s attempt to thwart the 2020 election, nor as ashamed by what we have come to: that it took armed insurrecti­on to open their eyes.

How do we live through this unpreceden­ted moment? This is not a rhetorical question. I cannot be the only person swinging between fear that our nation is being overthrown and irritation that I have no idea when my family will get the COVID- 19 vaccine. I cannot be alone in toggling between a burning desire that every person involved in Jan. 6’ s domestic terrorist event be arrested, charged, paraded through the streets and put in jail, and a pitiful, painful longing to see my daughter play basketball again or just watch her go out the door to school.

I want to storm the streets and I want to pull the covers over my head, even though I know I cannot responsibl­y do either. I am tweeting more than I

have ever tweeted before, even though I absolutely believe Twitter is part of the problem. I am talking about what has happened incessantl­y with family and friends and then rigorously setting aside time when we have to talk about something that does not make everyone so upset.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to stop doing it. So right now, I am trying to use whatever energy I have to cling to hope. I do have hope, and though I have never understood the word “cling ” as deeply as I understand it now, my hope is real. Democracy held on Jan. 6, just as it held in November, just as it will hold on Jan. 20. ( And if they’re looking for people to act as a human shield on Inaugurati­on Day, I’m in.)

That so many were able to muster the energy to protest the Vogue cover fortifies my hope. I’d like to be one of them, but every thought I have leads me directly to my outrage at the clear contempt for the 14th Amendment shown by so many of our elected officials, especially those representi­ng California who chose to support an insurrecti­on against democracy even as their state was under already deadly siege from COVID- 19.

But the Vogue cover matters, just like everything matters, and if there is too much of everything at the moment, well, we have to pick our battles. There are a lot of them right now, so it’s a good thing there are so many of us.

 ??  ??
 ?? Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times ?? THERE’S much to be angry about, a columnist writes, starting with the Trump mob at the U. S. Capitol, above. Add to that Vogue’s Kamala Harris cover, below.
Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times THERE’S much to be angry about, a columnist writes, starting with the Trump mob at the U. S. Capitol, above. Add to that Vogue’s Kamala Harris cover, below.
 ?? Vog ue ??
Vog ue

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States