Kamala Harris, a 56-year-old attorney, has created history today, by taking oath today as the first female, first Black, and first South Asian Vice-President. While marking so many historic ‘firsts’, this day holds immense significance this year because of the Black reckoning in 2020.
With the rise in Xenophobia and Racism in the US in the past year, this event marks the advent of a transformed path the country will take onward. Kamala has appeared as a hope for many with regards to racial representation and justice while sobering up the unbridled notions the previous administration encouraged.
Soon to be sworn in Vice President Kamala Harris attending church | Getty images
Harris’s political career followed an upward trajectory one and a half years ago. From California’s former Senator to being the Vice President, her career path has seen many vicissitudes. She threw her hat in the ring over a year ago for the presidential elections. The campaign ended by the end of 2020, but she got the spotlight again when Joe Biden put her on his ticket.
Kamala and Biden celebrate election victory
Born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris started her career at Alameda County’s District Attorney Office. She was elected in 2010 as Attorney General of California and remained in the position reelected in 2014) till 2017. She entered the Senate in 2017, becoming the second African American Woman and the first South Asian to do so.
Kamala with her husband outside the White House
During her time in the Senate, she advocated for the citizenship of undocumented immigrants, healthcare reforms, a ban on weapons, and tax reform. Last year, she introduced the Covid-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act to confront inequality. She has a reputation as a strong, resolute, witty politician who is well-grounded and resourceful. The past years have tainted the so-called image of the American dream profoundly. What needs to be seen is whether this turning point brings out more good for the US or just remains the sole marker of history.
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