After 45 presidents and 48 vice presidents of the United States, with two women previously nominated for vice president and one for president, a woman is finally ascending to the vice presidency. And not just any woman.
Sen. Kamala Devi Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, will be not only the first woman to be vice president, but also the first Black vice president (we have, of course, had a Black president in Barack Obama), and the first Asian person in either the vice presidency or presidency. She was the second Black woman ever elected to the Senate and the first South Asian American senator, woman or man. Before that, she was “elected as the first African American and first woman to serve as California's Attorney General.”
In the Senate, she made a national name through her sharp questioning of Brett Kavanaugh and others in hearings, showing her skills as a prosecutor. That record drew criticism during her presidential primary run, but also some strong defenses.
Whatever Joe Biden does as president, a big part of his historical legacy will be having been the white guy there while history was made, first as President Obama’s vice president and then through his choice of Harris as vice president. And for all Biden’s mixed past record on both race and gender—remember, Harris herself hit him hard over his record on school segregation during a primary debate—he has leaned into that role.
The stresses of the election week, with the slow counting and Biden’s gradual rise in key states, has at times made it hard to appreciate the significance of the history being made as Biden and Harris become the winners of this race. But for women, for Black women, for South Asian women … This is so big. The fight isn’t over, but this is a good time to take a deep breath and soak in the moment.