Attempts to fit in as an “other” occasionally cause us to try to be someone we are not. Our friend groups may shift from White to Black, and we may assume attributes of those friends.

Harris’ mother came to the U.S. from Tamil Nadu, in southern India, in 1958 as a breast cancer researcher looking for a higher degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ms. Harris grew up in California, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, and she identifies as Black and South Asian.. In India, her sudden elevation to likely presidential nominee ...