“Vice president-elect Kamala Harris delivers remarks in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night.” (Italiano)
Opinion: Kamala Harris is Exactly What This Country Needs
Kamala Harris is officially the projected Vice President-elect of the United States, and will be sworn into office on January 20th, 2021, barring any major unprecedented legal challenges by the current administration. Although they have already filed multiple lawsuits, it is expected that these will be dismissed, and the nation seems to understand that her vice presidency is now official. This could be a major turning point for a divided and on-edge nation in need of stability and unity. President-elect Joe Biden has already called for peace and unity in his unofficial acceptance speech, but he will have to work hand-in-hand with his vice president to help the country move forward and overcome the hatred and violence that has overtaken the nation. Harris may be the only person that can truly bring together such a polarized nation and lead the United States into a new era.
Harris is the first female, black-American, and Asian-American to be the vice president of the United States. She has broken barriers in every field and position she has held, and she is now posed to do just that in the White house. As if this is not enough, she has also been an advocate for the environment, criminal justice reform, health care equality, and economic stimulus throughout this pandemic (“Where”). But the fact of the matter is Kamala Harris’s identity may be the most significant and influential piece of this election. This country has waited centuries to see a female, a black female, or an Asian-American person become the vice president, and they have all finally happened. Representation is everything, and hundreds of millions of Americans finally have a person sitting in the highest office that shares part of their identity and is willing to fight for their rights and representation.
Although Joe Biden is the president and has the power to unite the American people, he is still an older, Caucasian man. Kamala Harris is a symbol to all Americans that we are progressing and that every person deserves to have a seat at the table and be represented in our nation’s highest office. The election of President Barack Obama was similarly just as historic and monumental, some may say it was even more so, but I believe that the sheer number of minorities that Kamala encompasses is a testament that the nation is ready to move forward. Despite the election of Donald Trump, or perhaps partially because of his election and his racist and sexist ideologies, the nation has continued to progress and raise awareness for the inequalities and injustices that so many Americans face every day. Although the political and racial divide has significantly deepened throughout his presidency, the activism and civic engagement experienced across the country throughout his presidency and the 2020 election is unprecedented. Now there is a person in the vice president’s office that stands for exactly what Donald Trump despises and fears the most: a well-educated, racially diverse female.
Harris’s career has been incredibly impressive, and she has already inspired many people all over the world through her fearless prosecution as the Attorney General of California and as a member on both the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee (McNamee). She has created a platform to help raise up other women and minorities by being persistent, hard-working, independent, and outspoken on many occasions, and she is bound to continue to be an icon and inspiration for people everywhere. Her unapologetic attitude and acceptance of her identity, and the success she has achieved while doing this, has opened the conversation for women and people from minorities to discuss their identity and the power that their own stories and backgrounds give them, as well as the injustices that they face as an under-represented minority. It is and always will be incredibly difficult to understand a persons or groups struggles and the challenges they face without being a part of that group, and this has been a huge issue due to the lack of representation of so many groups and identities in our government. Harris bring a whole new set of skills and understanding that has not previously been felt in such a high office in this nation.
The current administration, and specifically Donald Trump, has shown no regard or respect for many groups within the United States’ population, and consistently worked to further disadvantage these groups. While the president attacked many races, gender, nationalities, and ethnicities, Kamala Harris has used her platform to connect with the many groups that she belongs to, as well as to try to understand and bring representation to groups that have been historically undermined and underrepresented in every level of the government, especially the highest. The women’s march is the perfect example about the misunderstanding and lack of communication or respect for a portion of the United States’ population by the current administration. The first march took place the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States in response to the many terrible comments and actions he has taken against women throughout his life and career. Not only did he blatantly ignore the many issues that women face, but he also actively fought against the rights for women in a variety of ways. He campaigned on ideologies such as taking away protections against workplace discrimination for women and disputing the gender pay gap. This combined with the multitude of terrible statements and actions he had taken against women were enough to spark a nationwide and global protest that has continued through his entire presidency and has broken records for the largest protest in history (“Women’s”). Although there were many issues discussed at the protests, they focused on bringing attention to the issues that women face and the extreme lack of representation in our government with people that understand the challenges that women face. Kamala Harris is the beginning of truly equal representation in our government for women and for people of all backgrounds. Kamala has campaigned on the fact that she is proud to be a woman and will make a priority of being a fair and true representative of the people. Her first speech as vice president-elect was full of references to the women that blazed the trail before her and to all of the young women that will follow in her path (Italiano). Kamala even wore a white pantsuit for the speech in reference to the women’s suffrage movement. She is prepared to lead the country to a new era of women’s rights and protections, and she has already vowed to continue this fight through her vice presidency and beyond.
The fight for women’s rights has been going on for over a century, but Kamala Harris and all women and allies working toward equality have many challenges still to overcome. The challenges that females face are much deeper and more engrained in our society than what bills or laws can accomplish on their own. Having representation and respect for the vice president-elect is a good sign, but the work is still just beginning. There is much more to overcome than just the discrimination of women in the workplace or even the pink tax. Although our elected officials and the supreme court have many issues to discuss and decide on, our society must also work together to overcome the inherent biases that exist in our society. Do not get me wrong, the rulings we will soon see from the supreme court are incredibly important, and the right to choose what is best for a women’s own body and health or the right to equal pay are integral to the success of innumerable women and the true equality of sexes. However, as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis once perfectly phrased it in the song “Same Love”, “… and a certificate on paper isn’t going to solve it all, but it’s a damn good place to start.” Although these lyrics were written about marriage equality, I feel that they continue to be incredibly relevant and powerful in our current situation. There are still commonly held beliefs about what the role of women ‘should’ be in society, and it will be difficult to find true equality until these are overcome. We must work together to move past these connotations and grow together into a more equal and just nation.
Kamala Harris has the power to unite our nation through her identity and her activism. She is the highest-ranking female ever in the United States, as well as being black and Asian-American, making her also the most diverse vice president-elect in our history as well. She has and will continue to use her power and identity to bring together our divided nation as a representative to many minorities in the United States. Her identity as a black woman is especially prevalent and important in our society because of the women’s rights and black lives matters movements that have been continuously growing. Kamala Harris can help unite the nation under her unique voice in our government and the work of our society to overcome the challenges that we are facing throughout the nation.
Italiano, Laura. “Kamala Harris Delivers Historic First Speech as Vice President-Elect.” New York Post, New York Post, 8 Nov. 2020, nypost.com/2020/11/07/kamala-harris-delivers-rousing-speech-as-vice-president-elect/.
McNamee, Gregory Lewis. “Kamala Harris.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 Nov. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Kamala-Harris.
“Where Kamala Harris Stands on the Biggest 2020 Issues.” POLITICO, 2020, www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/kamala-harris/.
“Women’s March.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 5 Jan. 2018, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/womens-march.