Kamala Harris made history this weekend by becoming the first woman and person of color as vice president. She is the first woman to ascend to the high-ranking position of vice president in the 244 year history of the United States. Harris will become the 49th vice president after being inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
Harris is no stranger to trailblazing a path for women in elected office. She was the first woman of color to serve as Attorney General of California and only the second Black woman to serve as a United States senator after her election in 2016. Harris’s nomination for vice president was–in and of itself–historical, but her election to the second highest office brings hope that one day a woman will break the glass ceiling and become the president of the United States.
In an acceptance speech on Saturday, vice president-elect Harris recalled the hard work of generations of women before her. She said, “Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty, and justice for all… they are the backbone of our democracy. The women who worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century, 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act, and now, in 2020, with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continue the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard.”
Harris acknowledged her position as the first elected woman vice president and said, “…While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
Harris wore suffragette white during her acceptance speech in Wilmington, Delaware to pay homage to the 100 year anniversary of the 19th amendment, which finally gave American women the right to vote in 1920.
Sonoma State alumni Logan Pitts, an early supporter of Harris’s presidential campaign, said, “Almost 2 years ago I was in the front row of Kamala Harris’s kickoff in Oakland. But even though so much has happened since then, the last speech of the campaign Kamala gave felt the same. It was a speech about how much potential America has, even though we still have much work to do, and I’m so excited we get to see that potential represented in our next Vice President.”
During her time as Senator, Harris rose to pop culture fame with her prosecutorial style and talent for calmly grilling people on the senate floor, including Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.
Although Harris has a strong fan base, she does have a contentious reputation in some aspects of her career. Many critics of Harris argue that she is not a symbol of feminism and the black rights movement because of her past actions when dealing with criminal justice reform. In 2011, the Supreme Court demanded the state of California release inmates due to overpopulation that resulted in starvation, inhumane treatment, and even death. Harris’s lawyers argued in court that releasing them would drastically reduce their prison labor pool. Additionally, she staunchly opposed the use of recreational marijuana until just recently, when public opinion on the topic shifted. She also criminlized struggling parents through an anti-truancy policy which she passed as law, and she charged sex workers as criminals in the past, though she now claims to support the decriminlization of sex work. Harris’s past work concerns some Americans, as they do not see her as the social justice warrior she claims to be.
Despite the controversy over Harris, history was made this past week. A woman of color was finally elected into one of the highest positions in American politics and this is a moment to be celebrated and remembered.
