Making HERstory: Kamala Harris is the First Vice Presidential Candidate of Jamaican and Indian Heritage

written by Shanida Carter

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.” -Joe Biden, Twitter, August 11, 2020 

 It wasn’t much of a surprise when the news broke on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 11, 2020; that California Senator Kamala Harris was chosen as Joe Biden’s running mate on the presumptive Democratic party ticket for the United States presidency. The 55-year-old was rumored to be a frontrunner for months before the announcement. Yet, the selection of Harris has made ground-breaking history in many ways. Kamala Harris’ modus operandi is to break ground.

Harris is the first  West Indian American and South Asian candidate to be selected as a presidential running mate. She is also the third woman to be on a major party ticket in the VP slot following Geraldine Ferrara in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008. In the 244-year history of the United States, a woman has never served as president or vice president. Only one person of color has served in either of these capacities, President Barack Obama.

[Additional Read: Remembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg : Feminist. Titan. Icon.]

To help put the significance of Harris’ nomination into perspective, women received the right to vote in 1919 but women of color did not receive the full right to vote until 1965, just 55 years ago. Harris is also a graduate from a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Howard University in Washington, D.C., and the first member of the first Black Greek fraternal organization in the US,  Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., to be chosen as a presidential running mate on a major party ticket.

Harris is the first Jamaican American woman selected as a presidential running mate. Her father, Donald Harris, is a retired Stanford University professor emeritus of economics who immigrated from Jamaica. According to his Stanford bio, he served as an economic consultant to the Jamaican government and advisor to several Jamaican prime ministers. Harris West Indian roots were instilled in her through visits to the island with her father and connections with family members, though her parents divorced when she was 7 years old. In a 2018 article titled “Reflections of a Jamaican Father,” Mr. Harris wrote: “The cycle of history repeats itself in remarkable ways, small and large, across the generations of us Jamaicans, though we may be scattered around in the diaspora and far away from home where it all started. It is up to each generation to play its part, using well the legacy it inherits from the previous generation, so as to leave behind something of value for those who follow.”

Harris is the first Indian American selected as a presidential running mate. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a breast cancer scientist, endocrinologist and civil rights activist. She’s called her mom the single biggest influence in her life and “the reason for everything.” Gopalan immigrated from India to earn a doctorate at The University of California-Berkeley, which is where Harris’ parents met and engaged in civil rights activism together. According to Harris’ memoir The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Gopalan visited her family in India often with Harris and her sister Maya. Harris was especially close with her grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, a government official and civil rights activist. Harris mother lost her battle with colon cancer in 2009. Harris credits her drive and passion for activism to Gopalan who raised her girls as a single mom in Oakland, California, then briefly in Canada. Harris quoted her mother in a 2019 town hall: “You may be the first to do many things. Make sure you’re not the last.” 

Harris is no stranger to breaking barriers. She became San Francisco’s first female district attorney in 2003 then was elected to serve as the attorney general of California in 2010 and won a second term in 2014. She was the state’s first African American woman and the nation’s first Asian American state attorney general. In 2017, Harris became the second Black woman and the first South Asian American senator in U.S. history. 

“Black women and women of color have long been underrepresented in elected office and in November we have an opportunity to change that. Let’s get to work.” -Kamala Harris, Twitter, August 11, 2020 

With all of the historic firsts and much discussion on her diverse ethnic heritage, it can be easy for supporters to forget, and critics to gloss over the fact, that Harris exceeds the minimum requirements to serve as vice president. There are only three requirements to serve as vice president which include being a natural-born U.S. citizen, a resident in the U.S. for at least 14 years and at least 35 years old. As the current President of the United States demonstrated with his 2016 election win, that’s really all that is needed to hold one of the highest offices in the land. However, Harris has held two state offices, sits on the Senate Budget, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, and Intelligence Committees, and has received numerous honors and accolades. She has also introduced more than 130 Senate bills on public lands, natural resources, crime and law enforcement, and immigration among other issues.

Harris is scheduled to debate Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday, October 7, in Salt Lake City, Utah. It will be the only VP debate. If you’ve seen her grill Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court nomination hearings or question the president’s attorneys general or take Joe Biden himself to task on race in the first democratic presidential debate, then you know that Pence has his work cut out for him because Kamala (which rhymes with comma-la) Harris is a master debater.

While critics and supporters will continue to debate Harris’ record and whether she’s the right person for the job at this crucial moment in U.S. and global history, let’s take a moment to acknowledge this moment in time for what it is: HERstory. A moment of pride for not only West Indian women but for women and immigrants everywhere. This moment has been long overdue.