Kamala Harris has managed to shatter barriers as the first woman and person of colour to serve as vice president. Her journey has given rise to a story of perseverance, strength, empathy, and controversy. This article aims to give an overview of the influential individual that is Kamala Harris, so that one can potentially further delve into the current political sphere.
Family Life
Harris was born 1964 as the first daughter of the economics doctoral student from Jamaica, Donald J. Harris and Shyamala Gopalan, the nutrition and endocrinology student from India. The couple fought for civil rights in the University of California, teaching their daughters perseverance and passion for the things they believed in.
After their divorce in 1972, Harris and her sister were mainly brought up by her mother, often visiting her family in Chennai. Their mother daughter relationship is very tight, as she reflected in her Facebook post on Mother’s Day in 2022, proclaiming a quote Kamala’s mother said: “You may be the first to do many things. Make sure you are not the last” .
Career
Harris studied political science and economics at Howard University, pledging to the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. After graduating in 1986 Harris earned a law degree (1989) from the University of California College of the Law.
Her legal career began while employed in the office of the Alameda County District Attorneys, where she was appointed as the District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco in 2003. In her position as a lawyer, Harris immediately started stepping over boundaries. She was the first African American and women to serve as California’s Attorney General in 2010 and in 2016 she became the second African American woman to ever be elected to the Senate. Within the senate, Harris served in the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues like the 2016 Russian influence and meddling in the election.
Fast-forward to January 20, 2021, where Kamala D. Harris became the first woman, the first African American woman, the first person of Indian-American and Asian-American descent to be sworn Vice President of the United States of America. Alongside her lawyer husband Doug Emhoff, the nation’s first “second gentleman,” she shattered longstanding boundaries. Now she has accepted the Democratic nomination as candidate for the 2024 presidential election, and is going head-to-head against the Republican Donald Trump. According to the current standings of the Guardian’s poll tracker, Harris is currently leading in popularity against her opponent.
Policy Standings
Harris’ policy standings are focused on a more inclusive economy. She aims to foster a system that creates possibilities for everyone, like mortgage assistance for first time home buyers, bans on price gouging at the grocery store, and more.
In addition, Harris proposed a bipartisan border security deal to deal with immigration issues on the US southern border. This means that Harris is promoting strict immigration and border security policies, however, with support from both parties. The deal included substantial funding for border wall construction, however Trump killed the deal. Harris now claims that she will bring back the bill and sign it into a law when she is elected president.
Abortion is also an issue that never leaves US politics, and Kamal Harris is a constant supported of a women’s right to abortion. She is the first vice president to ever visit an abortion clinic. In 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, she toured the country to talk about the issue of abortion bans and women’s rights to have control over their own body.
Finally, Harris has been a long term advocate of laws to protect our environment. This has been evident in her legal battle to defend California’s climate laws, suing oil companies for damage to the environment. However, there has been a shift in her opinion, specifically on the topic of fracking (a way to recover gas and oil from shale rock). In a CNN interview in 2019 Harris took the position of banning this technique, but ever since her position in the presidential race of 2024, she does not have that opinion any more: “we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking”.
Summary
To summarise, Harris’ policies are progressive, pragmatic, and moderate. She advocates for current social, environmental, and economic issues, seeking bipartisan solutions in many of these areas. On the other hand, critics point out her public speaking shortcomings and suggest her to be opportunistic, in light of her policy shifts following changes in her political standing.
Whatever opinion one has on Kamala Harris, one thing is indisputable: her significant influence on the representation of women and people of colour in American politics. Kamala Harris’ position in the political landscape, and the legacy she is leaving behind, means passion and hope for many future generations.
