Vice President Kamala Harris: Is America ready for a Black, female president?
Shirley Chisolm did it first in January 1972
She was “the first African American woman in Congress the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States” from a major political party.
Her slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed.”
Chisolm pledged to fight for racial and gender equality by serving underserved and marginalized populations. Nonetheless, her candidacy faced skepticism from Black men and white women.
In the end, she did not win the nomination, but her legacy paved the way for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and has inspired future generations of political leaders and activists.
On July 21, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the race for a second term--four months before the November election--and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris. The hope and expectation are that fellow Democrats will endorse her nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August.
But, not to worry, the onslaught of misinformation and disinformation about her competence and fitness for the highest office has reverberated throughout her tenure as VP. Thirteen days ago, the Daily Wire, a conservative news website, released its three-part documentary, Scamala, Vice-President Kamala Harris Unmasked with Ben Shapiro, a lawyer and conservative political commentator.
The trailer promises to expose, Harris as “incompetent,” and “unqualified.”
“Uncover the scandals, incompetence, inappropriate laughter, and radicalism that define her … (and) reveals her dangerous ambition.”
(Whoa. Is how she laughs a thoughtful consideration for presidential office?)
In April 2024, I published “Black Women in Public Office Face Harsh Scrutiny,” for which I wrote, “(Harris) is the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president. Her public positions include serving as District Attorney of San Francisco, California Attorney General, and United States Senator.
“Nonetheless, despite a considerable resumé in government, her critics have included Black activists (who criticize her positions on criminal justice policies as San Francisco DA); some Democrats (who do not want her as the standard bearer for the party); and the alt-right media (for any number of scurrilous reasons).”
Harris represents a lot of what Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans fear and detest: she is Black, female, and the daughter of immigrants.
Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was breast cancer researcher (who died of colon cancer in 2009) and an activist from India; her 85-year-old father, Donald J. Harris, is a Jamaican American economist and professor emeritus at Stanford University. Her parental pedigree is unquestionable.
Harris defies all the tropes about Black women, which have abounded since the Antebellum period in America. She does not fit the image of “Mammy,” a self-sacrificing caretaker who serves white families. She is not a “Sapphire,” loud, emasculating, and aggressive. She does not embody the hypersexual and promiscuous “Jezebel.”
Over 30 countries, including Argentina, Iceland, Liberia, and Brazil, have had female presidents.
Is America ready for a Black, female president?
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