'Impossible to be biracial in America': Harris nomination shines light on mixed-race Americans

>>> I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT WHAT HE SAID LAST MONTH. YOU HAPPENED TO TURN BLACK RECENTLY FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES. QUESTIONING A CORE PART OF YOUR IDENTITY. ANY -- >> SAME OLD TIRED PLAYBOOK. NEXT QUESTION, PLEASE. >> THAT'S IT? >> THAT'S IT. >> VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS IN HER FIRST TV INTERVIEW SINCE BECOMING THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE QUICKLY BRUSHING OFF DONALD TRUMP'S COMMENTS ON HER RACIAL IDENTITY. AS THE VICE PRESIDENT HITS THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, THERE IS A GROWING FOCUS ON A GROUP OF VOTERS THAT DOESN'T USUALLY GET RECOGNIZED AS A POLITICAL DEMOGRAPHIC. THAT IS MIXED RACE VOTERS, PEOPLE OF TWO OR MORE RACES. JOINING US NOW, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT AND CO-ANCHOR OF NBC NEWS DAILY, MORGAN RADFORD. SHE SAT DOWN WITH MIXED RACE AND MULTI-ETHNIC VOTERS TO GET THEIR TAKE ON THIS ELECTION. GREAT TO SEE YOU, MORGAN. WHAT'D THEY TELL YOU? >> WILLIE, GOOD MORNING. THIS WAS A FASCINATING CONVERSATION TO SAY THE LEAST. WE TALKED TO SIX PEOPLE ACROSS A RANGE OF DIFFERENT RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND POLITICAL BACKGROUNDS IN MY HOME STATE, THE SWING STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. MANY SAID THE CENSUS FORMS, THE BOXES ON POLLS, THEY GIVE THEM PAUSE, SOMETIMES PANIC BECAUSE OF THE CHOICES THOSE BOXES FORCE THEM TO MAKE. BUT EVEN THOUGH, THEY SAID, THE BOXES ARE GETTING BETTER AND A LITTLE BIT MORE INCLUSIVE OVER TIME, PEOPLE'S PERCEPTIONS POLITICALLY CAN STILL BE PRETTY NARROW. TAKE A LOOK. >> I IDENTIFY AS INDIAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE. >> HISPANIC, ASIAN. >> Reporter: THEY'RE THE FACE OF A CHANGING NATION. >> WHEN ANYBODY ASKS, I SAY I'M BLACK AND PUERTO RICAN. >> ALL MY GRANDPARENTS ARE FROM A DIFFERENT ETHNIC BACKGROUND. >> Reporter: MULTIRACIAL AMERICANS ARE THE FASTEST GROWING RACIAL OR ETHNIC GROUP IN THE COUNTRY OVER THE LAST DECADE, AND THEIR VOTING POWER IS SIGNIFICANT. TWO OR MORE RACES SURGED BY 200%. INCLUDING HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA. >> RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN. DEMOCRAT. INDEPENDENT. DOES THE WAY THAT YOU IDENTIFY RACIALLY IMPACT YOUR POLITICS OR, SPECIFICALLY, HOW YOU PLAN TO VOTE THIS ELECTION? >> ABSOLUTELY. >> HOW SO? >> I'M NOT GOING TO LEND MY SUPPORT BEHIND SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT SUPPORT PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE ME. >> I DON'T THINK HE SEES ME AS WHO I AM. >> FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP? >> YES. >> WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOU? >> I JUST DON'T THINK THAT KAMALA HARRIS HAS ANYTHING VESTED IN THE, AIR FINGER QUOTE, BLACK AND HISPANIC EXPERIENCE, IN SO MUCH AS IT'D BE IDENTIFIED BY ANYBODY THAT LIVES IN THOSE COMMUNITIES. >> YOU'RE SAYING YOU DON'T THINK SHE CAN HELP BLACK OR BROWN PEOPLE? >> NO. GOING TO HOWARD DON'T MAKE YOU BLACK. >> Reporter: A CONVERSATION THAT QUICKLY TURNED TO THIS MOMENT IN A JULY INTERVIEW AT THE NATIONAL NEGOTIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS. >> 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. I DON'T KNOW. IS SHE INDIAN, OR IS SHE BLACK? >> WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU HEARD THOSE COMMENTS? >> HIGHLY OFFENSIVE. I MEAN, I THINK PROBABLY EVERY MULTIRACIAL, MIXED RACE, BIRACIAL PERSON HAS HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF SOMEONE ELSE TELLING THEM THAT THEY ARE NOT SOMETHING ENOUGH. I THINK IT'S KIND OF TRIGGERING, RIGHT? >> I THINK IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE BIRACIAL IN AMERICA, AND I THINK IT REQUIRES THAT YOU'RE COVERING ALL BASES AT ALL TIMES. AND IT REQUIRES CONSTANT RECOGNITION OF BOTH IDENTITIES. I THINK WHEN DONALD TRUMP SAYS STUFF LIKE THAT, ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS, AND IMPLIES THAT SHE'S, LIKE, PICKING A RACE FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE, IT'S TAPPING INTO AN INCREDIBLY FAMILIAR SENTIMENT I THINK EVERYONE ON THIS PANEL CAN UNDERSTAND. >> AS TRUMP SUPPORTERS, WHEN YOU HEARD THE COMMENT, AS MIXED PEOPLE, HOW DID IT REGISTER WITH YOU? >> WELL, MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS, EH, THAT WASN'T VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT. AT THE SAME TIME, THOUGH, WHEN I HEARD IT, I DIDN'T HEAR IT AS AN ATTACK ON BLACKS OR INDIANS. I HEARD IT MORE SO OF HIM COMMENTING TOWARDS IDENTITY POLITICS AND THE APPEAL THAT SOME TAKE TO PLAY UP ONE SIDE OF THEIR RACE OVER THE OTHER. >> I SEE YOU NODDING YOUR HEAD. >> I AGREE WITH HIM. I DIDN'T KNOW SHE IDENTIFIED AS BLACK. EVERYTHING I SAW WAS FIRST SOUTH ASIAN, INDIAN, NONE IDENTIFIED AS BLACK. >> REGARDLESS OF HER PARENTS, I MEAN, SHE WAS BORN IN THIS COUNTRY. SHE IDENTIFIES AS A BLACK PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY, IN AN AMERICAN WAY, IN A UNIQUELY AMERICAN CONTEXT. >> I NEVER HEARD HER IDENTIFY HERSELF AS A BLACK WOMAN. >> SHE SAID MULTIPLE TIMES SHE'S A BLACK WOMAN. >> I NEVER HEARD IT. >> I'M BLACK AND PROUD OF BEING BLACK. >> Reporter: POLITICS SOMETIMES BECOMING PERSONAL, WITH MIXED RACE AMERICANS WITH REPRESENTATION ON BOTH TICKETS. >> I AGREE WITH ALMOST NOTHING JT -- JD VANCE HAS A SAY. BUT IT IS INCREDIBLE HE CAN HAVE A SON NAMED VIVEK, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN I'LL VOTE FOR HIM IN NOVEMBER. >> DO YOU FEEL SOME KINSHIP TOWARD HARRIS AS A MIXED PERSON? >> NOT PERSONALLY. I FIND A LOT OF HER TRAJECTORY TO NOT BE MY BRAND OF WOMAN, LEADER. WE HAVE THREE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CRISES GOING ON, AND SOMEONE APPLYING TO BE COMMANDER IN CHIEF. AS A WOMAN, I WANT TO SEE YOU DO MORE THAN, YOU KNOW, APPEAL TO GIGGLING AND HAVING A GIRL MOMENT ON THE STAGE. >> WAS THERE EVER A MOMENT THAT SORT OF FORCED YOU TO CONFRONT THE CONCEPT OF RACE? >> FOR ME, IT'S MORE OF ETHNICITY. AS YOU CAN SEE, I HAVE AN ACCENT, RIGHT? I SPEAK WITH AN ACCENT. I DON'T THINK WITH AN ACCENT. YOU LEARN TO BE COMFORTABLE IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION. >> Reporter: A CONVERSATION WITH IMPLICATIONS BEYOND THE BALLOT BOX. >> I THINK EVERY TIME WE SEE POLLING, IT'S ABOUT RACE. AND, YOU KNOW, AS A CANDIDATE OF COLOR, YOU CAN PUT A LOT OF STAKE INTO HOW THIS CANDIDATE REPRESENTS, SAY, THE BLACK EXPERIENCE OR THE INDIAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. I THINK WE WILL NEVER ASK DONALD TRUMP OR JOE BIDEN OR BILL CLINTON OR GEORGE BUSH TO DO THE SAME THING. I THINK WHITE PEOPLE