The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, officially took office on January 20, 2021. And if she does not win all the votes, her appointment remains historic.
Now officially Joe Biden's vice-president, Kamala Harris is not unanimous, even in her Democratic camp. Deemed far too harsh on people from minorities when she served as attorney general in California, criticized by the party's left wing, her arrival in the White House should still be a game-changer. Here's why.
This is the first in all
Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. At 56, she has indeed managed to overcome many obstacles between herself and power. First, because she is the first woman to be elected to the second most important office in the United States, but the feat does not end there. She is also the first mixed race (her mother is South Asian and her father is black) and the first immigrant daughter to hold this position. In short, an embodiment of the “American dream”.
Kamala Harris is also a Californian Democrat. However, since California became Democrat in the 90s, the party has struggled to convince nationally that they were not radical left (a label prohibiting any attempt to enter the House- White). Until 2020, no Californian Democrat had dared to run for president. That didn't stop Kamala Harris from running for the Democratic primary and then running for vice-president.
It has an international dimension
When her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, obtained a position at the Jewish General Hospital of Montreal, along with a teaching position at the prestigious McGill University, Kamala Harris found herself enrolled in an elementary school where the language used was French. Since then, she has not completely lost her level, as the former French Ambassador to the United States, Gérard Arraud, confided on his Twitter account in August 2020 that when they met at the embassy, "the senator had proved that she spoke a little French". We are far from Donald Trump and his “America first”.
It was also in Montreal that she achieved her initial political success. In his book The Truths we hold, Kamala Harris says it was there that she organized her first protest against the ban on children playing soccer below their apartment building. A successful rally, as it led to the ban being lifted.
See also: Kamala Harris shares a moment of bond with her little niece
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She is inspired by the women in her life
In Kamal Harris's personal pantheon there are women, many women. According to the vice-president, Mrs. Wilson, her CP teacher, instilled in her the notions of hope and confidence. Harris also spent a lot of time with his neighbor, Mrs. Shelton, who ran a preschool and championed the idea that you should always help those in need.
As for her mother, who immigrated to the United States at the age of 19, she graduated from Berkeley University and was a researcher specializing in breast cancer. According to her daughter vice president, it was thanks to mother's convictions, who firmly believed in US progress, that she was able to reach her new post. Kamala Harris also says her mother told her to be empathetic and compassionate towards others, and to act instead of complaining.
She is committed to women and children
The first time Kamala Harris stood up for someone else? When she learned that her best friend was the victim of sexual touching by her father. A few years later, she got her first post as an Assistant District Attorney in Alameda County, California, where she was particularly involved in the protection of abused women and children. Since 2017, as a senator, Kamala Harris has also fought for the maternal health of black people.
Other fights of the vice president: climate change, health, the fate of veterans …
During the coronavirus pandemic, she finally devoted herself to the survival of small businesses. And on January 20, during her inauguration with Joe Biden, she told us all, not just Americans: “In the darkest moments, we don't just dream. We do. We don't just see what has been. We see what can be. We're aiming for the moon. And then we plant our flag there. ” No doubt Kamala Harris will plant hers in history.