Vice President Kamala Harris has often highlighted her upbringing and family in her bid for the presidency, including a rare mention of her father during her Democratic National Convention (DNC) acceptance speech.
“My early memories of our parents are filled with joy—a home full of laughter and music: Aretha, Coltrane, and Miles. At the park, my mother would say, ‘Stay close.’ But my father, with a smile, would say, ‘Run, Kamala, run. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.’ From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless,” Harris shared at the DNC in Chicago last Thursday.
Born in Oakland, California, in 1964, Harris is the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian biologist, and Donald Harris, a Jamaican economist. The couple divorced when Kamala was seven, and she spent much of her youth with her mother and sister in Canada, where her mother worked at McGill University.
As Harris has risen in the Democratic presidential race, Fox News Digital explored her father’s academic legacy. Donald J. Harris, who shares his first name with former President Donald J. Trump, is a retired Stanford University economics professor known for his Marxist theories. The Economist recently described him as a “combative Marxist economist.”
“His writings, though clear and straightforward, are infused with Marxist theory and often include obscure theoretical elements. Those familiar with his work might find echoes of the so-called ‘word-salad’ critiques aimed at his daughter,” the Economist noted.
Born in Jamaica in 1938, Donald Harris earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of London and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He met Kamala Harris’ mother at Berkeley, and the couple had two daughters, Kamala and Maya. After holding teaching positions at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, Harris joined Stanford University in 1972, where he became the first Black scholar to receive tenure in the economics department.
Donald Harris retired in 1998 to focus on public policy development for economic growth and social equity. Despite his retirement, he continues to serve as a professor emeritus at Stanford and has contributed to economic discussions in Jamaica.
Harris has generally remained out of the public eye regarding his daughter’s political career. In 2021, Kamala Harris noted that she and her father were on “good terms,” despite her previous comments in 2003 about not being particularly close.
In her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold,” Harris mentioned her father sparingly, noting that while he was part of their lives, her mother was primarily responsible for their upbringing.
Donald Harris has occasionally commented on his daughter’s career, including a 2019 response to her remarks about marijuana use. He expressed disappointment in an essay, stating that his family’s Jamaican identity should not be associated with stereotypes.
At 86, Donald Harris has largely stayed out of the media spotlight, maintaining a low profile and avoiding interviews about his daughter’s political endeavors. Fox News Digital reached out to Donald Harris for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
