Yahoo Finance Kamala Harris deserves to be treated like a white man during her term as Vice President
Kamala Harris has made history by becoming not only the first woman to hold the office of Vice President, but also the first African American and South Asian person. These are all important details that we won’t and shouldn’t ever forget. I just want us all to leave them in our peripheral for the duration of her term.
Who could forget the optimism that surrounded Barack Obama as he took up the presidency back in 2009? Like Harris, he too is mixed race and became a beacon of hope for black people globally. Far from a Mandela figure however, for the most part he was just inoffensive with a Will Smith-ish vibe of the fun uncle who wears cool trainers and knows who Cardi B is. Beyond this, arguably not much was accomplished in terms of race relations. It’s also important to bear in mind that as progressive as his election was, had he attempted even a quarter of Trump’s pre-election antics, he probably wouldn’t even have made it into office.
Vice President Harris will likely make mistakes and misjudgements during her time - she has done in the past. She will likely also back bold and progressive policies that will help clear up the rubble left behind by Trump’s disaster of an administration. Whether she swings too far either way or conducts her work in a neutral fashion, she should be treated just like a white man would.
This means not holding her to impossible standards or coming down on her like a ton of bricks whenever she fails to meet subjective expectations. It also means not letting things slide or making her out to be The Next Coming for women and people of colour everywhere. We shouldn’t be hyper-fixating on the shoes she decides to sport on a magazine cover because we never did that to Pence or President Biden when they were both in her position. At the same time, those of us who identify with her need to be accepting of the reality that she only has so much power, and her priorities may not always match the priorities that matter to us.
The United States has been run by white men throughout its history which means they’ve been given the grace of being judged by their policies and actions rather than their race or gender. All I ask is that the same grace is extended to Vice President Harris.
