With Kamala Harris in the VP Slot, We Just Made History—Let’s Do It Again in November
Former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made a historic decision this week, choosing Senator Kamala Harris to join him on the Democratic Party ticket. This move is incredibly significant, as a woman, much less a Black woman, has never served in this role in the 244 years since this country was established. A woman has only been a vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket in two prior elections in this country.
To be clear, Black women are the heart of the Democratic party base. Black women vote at higher rates than all other groups—and yet in 2016, the number of Black women who voted dropped by 10%. After eight years of the first Black president in the history of the nation, when faced with an all-white ticket, some Black women decided not to vote. Women are reliable voters, and Black women are and have been the backbone of the Democratic Party. Their presence and enthusiasm at the ballot box will be a decisive factor in the upcoming general election, and a successful ticket will address the needs and concerns of women, in order to move the country closer to what it promises to be.
In 2020, voter turnout will be critical. It’s never been enough to implore people to vote because their ancestors died for us to have the right, and it’s never been enough to admonish Black voters that if they don’t vote, they don’t have the right to complain. Black voters have every right to complain: Since 1965, Black voters have overwhelmingly turned out for white Democratic candidates and gotten little in return for their support.
Women voters and Black voters could determine the outcome of this election. As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of white women gaining the right to vote in America, the selection of Senator Kamala Harris is monumental—and represents the work that we have done, and the work we must continue, more than 100 years later, to ensure that the voices of women, Black communities, and Black women, are front and center in American politics.
With a historic choice such as this one, there is an opportunity to right what has been wrong for a very, very long time. For the first time in history, a Black woman, as vice president, will be charged with being the top advisor to the president of the United States, presiding over the Senate, and breaking any tie as it relates to legislation being passed in Congress. This is a role that ostensibly could help to set policy and practice in the White House, and as such, could ensure what we’ve pushed for at the Black to the Future Action Fund—a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.
Representation is important—it is essential that the ticket reflects what America looks like. But representation cannot be the total substance of our support: We must match representation both in symbol and in substance. Women and Black people, and other communities that have been left out and left behind, must be in positions of leadership. When they do lead, it is also important that this leadership lift up those who have been kept down after generations of rigged rules left us without the things we need to live well.
We have a mandate, and that mandate is to save this country from the jaws of the past, when women, and Black people, and people of color, and immigrants, and queer people, were seen as less than fully human. That fight is far from over, and this November will be a decisive moment to demonstrate that the majoritarian values of this nation are still that of freedom, justice, and equality for all, and not just some.
The most important part of this choice is what it can do to energize the strongest base of the Democratic Party: Black women. It is a signal to Black voters that we matter, and now there is an even more historic opportunity to match the symbol with the substance of what it means for Black voters to matter. Black voters want to see the issues we care about reflected in the campaigns that seek our votes. We want to know that a campaign has its finger on the pulse of how issues like health care, housing, criminal system reform, and the economy will be addressed—not just in general, but in terms of how racial and gender disparities built into each of these issues will be specifically addressed and resolved. Women and Black communities took control of the House of Representatives. We’ve elected more women and women of color to the leadership of this country than any other time in history. We now have an opportunity to take back the White House, reclaim the Senate, and get moving on the path to real victory—matching our values and our symbols to the laws and practices that govern this land.
Selecting Senator Kamala Harris as vice president Biden’s running mate was the right decision at the right time. Black voters must not only see ourselves in the halls of power and at the top of the ticket; we must also know that the symbolism of a Black woman as vice president can and will translate into better policies that will improve the lives of Black communities, which will, in turn, translate into better policies for all of America. The work begins today to ensure that we make that vision a clear reality and do it successfully in the next 80 days until the election, and all the days afterward when we win.
Alicia Garza is the [rincipal at the Black Futures Lab and the Black to the Future Action Fund, which she founded to make Black communities powerful in politics. Her debut book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, is out on October 20, 2020. Follow her on Instagram @chasinggarza.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
