Sunday evening, hours after the news that President Joe Biden was stepping aside from his bid for re-election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual town hall regarding the news. Attendees asked questions, and those of us on the panel answered with our opinions. One question came up repeatedly: Is America ready for a Black woman to be President?
The question brought me back to 2008, when Illinois Senator Barack Obama was running for President. I was an Obama delegate that year, and I remember similar questions being raised about his candidacy. It’s a question that will be asked ad nauseum for the next four months, and we should be honest in our answer.
As a Black woman, that answer comes in the form of another question: “Has America ever been ready for us?”
Was America ready for my ancestors to be freed from enslavement? No.
Was America ready for Jim Crow laws to end? No.
Was America ready for integration? No.
Was America ready for a Black President? No.
America has never been ready for us, so the answer to the question “Is America ready for a Black woman to be President?” is complex.
The answer is no, but it does not matter.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
America is never ready for justice, but that does not stop justice from prevailing. We cannot knock on locked doors and expect them to open nicely for Black people; that’s not in America’s DNA.
Vice President Kamala Harris can win in November, and her race and gender may factor in, but hopefully, they will not be the determining factor one way or the other in this race. She will face misgynoir—the combination of misogyny and racism—from her political opponents. We are already seeing disgusting smears against her that are demeaning and have nothing to do with substance or policy. We are seeing the Right-wing use diversity, equity, and inclusion as an attack, implying that she is unqualified.
While I may not agree with all of her policies and her record, she was a District Attorney, and Attorney General, and a U.S. Senator, and is currently the Vice President.
Instead of asking if America is ready for a Black woman to be President, we should be asking what America is ready for.
America is ready for a government that works for us, that doesn’t leave us behind. America is ready for leadership that supports universal healthcare, climate justice, an end to violence overseas, raising the minimum wage, and a general vision that provides provision for the people.
In the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris supported things like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, abolishing the filibuster, and other progressive policies that she can revive and run on now. She has an incredible opportunity to build a large coalition to defeat former President Donald Trump at the ballot box in November. I hope she takes it.
America is never ready for Black women, but that cannot stop us. If Vice President Harris decides to build a strong progressive coalition, a Black woman will be the 47th President of the United States.
Nina Turner is a former Ohio state senator, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School, and the founder of We Are Somebody.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
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Publish date : 2024-07-24 04:55:00
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