*Senator Kamala Harris has been selected as the vice presidential running mate for democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
And while you might expect Donald Trump and other conservatives to try to discredit Harris with their accusations about her citizenship, against her character and her past record as attorney general of California, some historically liberal democratic voters say they’re still on the fence about whether having this Black woman on the ticket is enough to get their vote in November. Harris’s father is Jamaican. Her mother is of South Asian descent.
While everybody has a right to their own opinions, some people are never going to be satisfied with ‘the chosen one.’ Harris is the token Black political icon. And I say that with all due respect. Because we know the white power structure will allow only a few Black people they approve of to get that far up the political ladder before they pit us against each other and have us fighting it out like prize buck slaves.Â
Truthfully I have my own reservations about casting my vote for Kamala Harris. If I vote it will be for her, because she is part of the African diaspora. Joe Biden will just get the benefit of my vote because of her. It’s the reason they chose her to begin with. That’s the game. She might get my vote, but it will come with expectations.Â
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After the first election of President Obama in 2008 most Black people were just elated that Americans had it in them to elect a Black man to the highest office. So we were willing to overlook the fact that his election was the highlight of his presidency for Black people. We showed up for him to overwhelmingly get him elected, but he didn’t show up for us overwhelmingly with legislation or policies to benefit our community. That term ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ didn’t help us.
Having been through the Obama presidency, most of us Black people expect more of a Black presidential candidate – in this case Vice presidential candidate than just optics. Okay. Harris graduated from Howard University, one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges in the United States. That’s good for HBCUs. I too, am a proud graduate of a HBCU- Tennessee State University! If elected Kamala Harris will be the first Black woman VP in the United States, and that’s another good look for Black women and for America.
But she has vacillated on whether she would support reparations for ADOS -American African Descendants of Slaves.
Steffanie Rivers is a freelance journalist living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Email her at [email protected] with your comments, questions and speaking inquiries.
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