Why putting politics aside to recognize historical American milestones matters
Kamala Harris — a woman of Jamaican and Indian parental roots — is the United States’ next vice president.
Issue #6
Hi all —
For more than two centuries, the United States of America’s top two executive branch leaders — the president and vice president — were almost all white men (Fun fact: Herbert Hoover’s vice president, Charles Curtis, was half Native American.). In 2008, Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first president of mixed race (African American and white). In 2020, Kamala Harris has been elected the nation’s first vice president that is a woman of color (Jamaican and Indian American roots).
If our government is supposed to represent the people, we’re slowly making progress toward our elected leaders better reflecting the country’s rapidly diversifying demographics.
Let’s put politics aside for a moment to recognize the historical significance of these milestones — something former President George W. Bush did with class in 2008, the day after Obama was elected:
“No matter how they cast their ballots, all Americans can be proud of the history that was made yesterday.”
“They chose a president whose journey represents a triumph of the American story.”
“This moment is especially uplifting for a generation of Americans who witnessed the struggle for civil rights with their own eyes — and four decades later, see a dream fulfilled.”
After this week’s election, in public offices all across the country, our elected officials will be one step more representative of its people — beyond race, including sexual orientation, age, ability and religious identity. In the United States, Pew data shows 61% of Americans — a majority — agree that increasing diversity is a positive change.
Bush concluded his post-election remarks in 2008 with mentions of the people who raised Obama:
“I know Senator Obama’s beloved mother and grandparents would have been thrilled to watch the child they raised ascend the steps of the Capitol and take his oath to upload the Constitution of the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.”
After her parents divorced when Harris and her sister Maya were children, the sisters largely grew up with their mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who had moved from India to Berkeley in 1958. (Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher, died in 2009 of colon cancer.)
On January 20, 2021, before President-elect Joe Biden takes his oath of office, Vice President-elect Kamala Devi Harris will take hers.
It’s a moment of pride for all Americans, politics aside.
It’s a moment Gopalan would have been thrilled, too.
Thanks for joining the conversation,
Vignesh Ramachandran (@VigneshR)
Co-founder of Red, White and Brown Media
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