The vice president-elect of the United States is from Oakland. She is the daughter of a father from Jamaica and a mother from India. She becomes the first woman on a winning presidential ticket.
On Jan. 20, she will be sworn in as the first female vice president, and the first Black woman, to become vice president of the United States of America. She will also become the first person of South Asian descent to shatter a 200-plus-year-old American glass ceiling.
For all that time, the lifespan of our nation, that position has been occupied exclusively by white men.
That is, until Kamala Devi Harris came along, adding this new role, this list of firsts, in a meteoric political career.
No matter our politics or Harris’ record as a Bay Area prosecutor and as California’s attorney general, her shared victory with President-elect Joe Biden is a moment of great consequence in American history.
Opinion
Harris winning vice president should speak to all Americans who believe in the promise of equality for all. It can speak to every young girl who woke up Saturday morning to learn she lives in a world of unprecedented possibilities.
It most certainly speaks to Black and Asian communities who have enriched our nation and who view Harris with justifiable pride in their contributions to the American story.
Immigrant, Indian roots resonate
In Sacramento, where Harris used to work, women making their mark in our community viewed Saturday as a watershed day in their lives. They will remember where they were when they got the news. They will recall the deep connection they felt to the meaning and the symbolism of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Bobbie Singh-Allen, a member of the Elk Grove Unified School District board, is running for Mayor of Elk Grove. She talks about her campaign at home on Wednesday, Aug 26, 2020 in Elk Grove. Paul Kitagaki Jr. pkitagaki@sacbee.com
“As an Indian American immigrant, today is a proud day for all of us,” said Bobbie Singh-Allen, who currently has a substantial lead in votes for mayor of Elk Grove.
Singh-Allen was born in India, like Harris’ mother. Singh-Allen moved to the U.S. with her family as a small child. With more than 45% of the vote, she will likely replace Steve Ly and become the first Sikh woman mayor in the country.
A national milestone such as Harris becoming VP, or a local one such as Singh-Allen, validate the contributions of immigrants. They are antidotes to the anti-immigrant rhetoric that has poisoned American politics in recent years.
Harris has spoken lovingly of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who raised her and her sister in the Bay Area after her parents separated.
A VP from our diverse communities
Singh-Allen’s family helped found Sikh temples in the Central Valley before her interest in politics brought her to Sacramento. She graduated from Sacramento State. She brought her parents to be near her in Elk Grove. Her brother is a well-known businessman in Elk Grove. She is heading to the mayor’s office of her adopted hometown.
In one generation, these families from India – Harris’ mother, Singh-Allen’s parents – arrived in America and dedicated their lives to making it better. Once they had a stake in the community around them, those communities benefited.
With Harris, Americans who didn’t know – but should have known – will learn that, yes, you can be a woman proud of your immigrant roots, while identifying as a Black woman, while being a proud American. They are all one.
Harris has lived that experience, and it’s not uncommon for many of us. My parents were born in Mexico and I honor that experience. I embrace the ancestral homeland of the people who gave me life. Why is that so hard to understand? Why would anyone be irritated by those of us who choose to hang onto our roots, while being proud Americans in every way possible?
The woman who will be a heartbeat away from the president is an American woman for the 21st century. She is Indian. She is Black. She is American.
Harris grew up in Berkeley, and her experience, our diversity in Northern California neighborhoods, are familiar to us. What better way for the rest of America to see the future of an increasingly diverse nation than by watching Harris take the oath of office?
Historic moment for Black women
What a moment that will be in Black communities whose votes helped carry the Biden-Harris ticket across the finish line.
Adama Iwu
Lobbyist Adama Iwu was in Mexico when she got the news. Iwu has challenged the culture of harassment at the state Capitol and is co-founder of #WeSaidEnough, a non-profit “working to end harassment, bullying, discrimination and abuse.”
“First of all, my heart is so full,” she said. “I feel represented in a way I never have before. A Black woman VP with an immigrant background. This really matters and maybe even more because of the last four years where so many of us felt left behind, unseen and maybe even undesired by (the current) administration.”
Flojaune G. Cofer, Senior Director of Policy at Public Health Advocates
Flojuane Cofer, an epidemiologist and community activist in Sacramento, was on the phone with her mother on Saturday.
“It is historic to have a Black woman and a graduate of a historically Black college (Howard University) serve as VP, “Cofer said.
Sacramento policy strategist Alicia Lewis said: “As a Latina, I was emotionally overwhelmed by Sen. Harris becoming vice-president-elect. She embodies the reality that we can tell our Black and brown children they can truly grow up to break every barrier and accomplish anything.”
What kind of vice president will Harris be? What kind of president will Biden be? How will they live up to the intense faith Americans have placed in them?
That will be a story for another day. But for today and for the near future, Kamala Harris becomes one of the most consequential people to hail from the Bay Area and to pass through Sacramento on her way to the White House.
At 56, she is a historical figure. She’s an inspirational figure. She inspires the most powerful emotion people can have: The ability to dream about a better tomorrow.
“Seeing her in that seat means that women and girls of color across the country now believe that some of the highest offices in our country are in their reach, and that’s so incredible,” said Katie Valenzuela, who will be sworn into the Sacramento City Council next month.
Said Iwu: “I’m praying and pulling for VP Harris because I know as hard and as long the road has been for her, it only gets tougher from here. The slings and arrows will be more direct and the demands on her from Blacks, from Asians, from women, from everyone will be even more intense. But that’s all still to come, today, I’m going to celebrate. Congratulations Madam VP Elect!”
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 3:41 PM.
Marcos Bretón oversees The Sacramento Bee’s Editorial Board. He’s been a California newspaperman for more than 30 years. He’s a graduate of San Jose State University, a voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame and the proud son of Mexican immigrants.
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