In 1871, a white abolitionist made a prediction. “I hope and expect to see the day,” he declared, “when a woman will be president of the United States; yes, when a Negro woman is president; and I won’t be satisfied unless she is at the same time married to a white man.” Theodore Tilton’s prophecy enraged the Confederate South, where it was denounced as a “radical doctrine”. It would take another 50 years before black women won the vote, and another century before the US would face the real possibility of electing a black woman to the highest office – one who is, indeed, married to a white man.
The response to Kamala Harris’s historic 2024 candidacy – predictably steeped in overt racism and misogyny – unfolds against a deeper history of American fascism. Donald Trump’s campaign event at Madison Square Garden (MSG) on 27 October evoked similar right-wing events held there in the 1930s, including pro-Nazi fascist rallies in 1934, 1935, and 1939.
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