Opinion | Kamala Harris Isn't Americans' 'Momala.' She's Our Vice President.

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on "The Drew Barrymore Show," and in a lighthearted moment, explained — as she did during the last presidential election cycle — that in her blended family, her stepchildren affectionately call her Momala.

Barrymore responded that we all need "a tremendous hug" right now and told Harris, "We need you to be Momala of the country."

I don't think Barrymore intended any harm, quite the opposite, and the vice president was magnanimous, taking the comment in stride and with good cheer. The studio audience applauded.

But even gentle and oblivious stereotyping can be harmful, and it's important that we explore why this comment, which may seem innocuous to some, is offensive to others.

Black women and girls spend their entire lives in flight from a society insistent on de-individualizing and dehumanizing them, insistent on forcing them to fit broad generalizations.

There's the Sapphire caricature from "Amos 'n' Andy," the emasculating shrew who is rude, meanspirited and prone to fits of rage. There's the Jezebel, ruled by a lascivious spirit and lacking a moral compass or self-control. There's the welfare queen — a stereotype popularized during Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign — rooted in the toxic combination of promiscuity and work avoidance. And of course, there's the idea of the angry Black woman, a stereotype that often overlaps and amplifies others.

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