SAJU: Biden-Harris ticket ushers in new hopes, challenges
Column: Pride, Not Prejudice
On Saturday night, I sat with tears in my eyes as I watched Kamala Devi Harris address the United States as Vice President-elect. As the first woman and person of color to hold that office, she represents millions of Americans who can now see themselves in her.
I watched numerous TikToks that day of little girls pointing at their screens saying “she looks like me.” It was something I wish I had, had growing up. These children being able to think of themselves as future leaders is invaluable for our representative democracy.
Throughout this political campaign, since the day that former Vice President and current President-elect Joe Biden chose her as his running mate, Harris has endured very personal attacks. President Donald J. Trump has described Harris as “aggressive,” “disrespectful” and “angry.”
Not only do these attacks invoke the “Double Bind” faced by political women (women can be seen as leaders or as likeable/traditionally feminine), but also these comments reference one of the oldest racist tropes (“angry Black woman”).
When conservative commentators repeatedly mispronounced Harris’s first name and suggested that she was not Black, a top Google search around the time was the location of her birthplace. People wanted to check if she was born in the United States (Harris was, in fact, born in California).
The interest which arose in her birthplace is a poignant reminder of the birtherism lie which Trump used against former President Barack Obama, another reminder of how Harris, as the daughter of immigrants, was treated differently from all of the former white vice presidents who came before her.
Advocates and political leaders from the Indian-American community have stated in interviews that Biden’s choice to put Harris on the ticket is a direct “refutation of President Trump’s demonization of immigrants and a powerful statement on American possibility.” Some Indian-Americans have felt that the consideration of Harris for this position is a sort of validation of their own family’s choices to come to America for a different life.
While a symbol of hope in the transitioning administration, Harris must also contend with her political past. Her experience as a California’s attorney general rightly faced criticism from both the Right and Left. “Many progressives tried to turn the basic fact of Harris’s profession into an indictment against her,” even though the reality is far more complicated.
While the term “progressive prosecutor” is often used to describe her early career, many take issue with this term: When progressives urged Harris to embrace and implement criminal justice reform during her tenure as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, she either opposed the measures or did not offer her opinion. Furthermore, Harris fought to “uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct.”
Her ascension to one of the highest offices in the land should be utilized as an opportunity for the country to grapple with the injustices of the mass incarceration system and the effects over-policing has on minority communities without losing sight of the very real harm experienced by individuals in the system and their family members.
At this moment, it is necessary to take the time right after Biden’s election success to acknowledge the fact that American democracy persevered (in part by the work done by grassroots efforts which energized voters across the country, particularly the efforts of Black, Latinx and Indigenous organizing groups) and celebrate that the turnout for the 2020 election (projected to be 66.3 percent) is about to break century-old records.
After the initial celebration has ended, the difficult work of transition must begin. During this time of great political change, it is necessary to hold the new leaders chosen for political office accountable to the people. Similar to how I watched Biden and Harris celebrate and begin to usher in a new chapter of American history on Saturday, I will continue to stay informed and remain civically involved.
Biden and Harris now shoulder the hopes and dreams of the American people. There is now a generation of children who will watch someone like them, whether it is the small town kid from Scranton or the mixed daughter of immigrants, lead the country. The widespread joy and celebration in the streets have transformed into a “new normal” that feels far more hopeful.
Neha Saju is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in history and political science and minoring in French and women's and gender studies. Her column, "Pride, Not Prejudice," runs on alternate Mondays.
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