Introducing the Vice President-Elect: Kamala Harris

Nila Roper

On Saturday, November 7, 2020, Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 United States Presidential Election. The results of this election made history, as Senator Kamala Harris, will be the first female, Black, and Asian-American Vice President of the United States. 

One very interesting thing about Harris being elected as Vice President is the different reactions on the left side of American politics, as one might expect the left to be at least satisfied with a Democratic win. Some people are celebrating the history being made, and feel that Harris’s election proves that America is making progress towards a more inclusive future. Other people aren’t fans of Harris’ controversial record, and don’t believe she is right for the position. Some view Harris as too progressive, while others view her as not progressive enough. Some people think she’s the perfect fit. Let’s examine this. 

Kamala Devi Harris was born October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. She is a child of immigrants, born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She grew up in Berkeley, California, and later moved to Montreal, Canada, where she attended Westmount High School. She attended Howard University, one of the nation’s most prestigious historically Black colleges, in Washington D.C., then went on to law school at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Harris started off working in the Alameda County and San Francisco District Attorney’s Offices, then worked as district attorney of San Francisco, and Attorney General of California. She is currently the junior senator for the state of California, and has filled this role since 2017.

One of the biggest accomplishments of Harris’s career was starting the “Back on Track” program, which, according to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, helps first-time, low-level drug offenders learn from their mistakes and get their lives back on track instead of serving jail time. In this 12-18 month program, participants do community service and set goals regarding their employment, education, and parenting based on a personalized responsibility plan. In order to graduate, one must find a job, enroll in school, and comply with the terms of their plan. The court then dismisses the case, and less than 10 percent of participants commit a crime ever again. This program has challenged the effectiveness of typical correctional practices, and has been replicated in other states. When Harris ran for president, her criminal justice reform plan included ending the death penalty, eliminating private prisons, and other efforts to combat mass incarceration. In addition, Harris’s voting record shows that she is one of the most progressive, left-leaning senators according to CNN, and she holds rather liberal views when it comes to issues such as healthcare, gun control, and LGBTQ+ rights. These factors make her rather appealing to Democrats and the left.

However, some aspects of Harris’s past as a prosecutor have caused controversy. She pushed for a truancy program that allowed parents to be charged with a misdemeanor if their kids missed 10 percent of the school year without a valid reason, according to NPR. This law was enacted in January of 2011. Although her intention was getting kids to get their education (which she believed would help resolve societal issues such as violence and crime), this law disproportionately impacted families of color. Families affected by this law were often dealing with issues such as poverty, unemployment, poor health and homelessness. Harris has been heavily criticized for criminalizing parents for circumstances that aren’t completely under their control, and she has since expressed regret over the law’s effects. In 2011, when she worked as Attorney General of California, the Supreme Court ruled that California jails were overcrowded, and had to allow non-violent, second-time offenders who had served half their sentence to be eligible for parole. According to The Daily Beast, her office’s lawyers made the argument that releasing inmates would harm the cheap labor force of prisoners, which caused intense backlash. Harris claimed that she wasn’t aware of this argument, and was deeply upset when she found out. On the subject of decriminalizing marijuana, Harris has shifted her views. She endorsed the Marijuana Justice Act, and has spoken out in support of marijuana legalization countless times in recent years. However, she declined to support California’s cannabis legalization ballot measure in 2016, and as District Attorney of San Francisco, her office increased drug convictions significantly. 

 Some believe that Harris isn’t deserving of most of the criticism she’s received, and that she could only do so much as a prosecutor in certain situations. However, in the time of the Black Lives Matter movement, when calls for racial justice and change are being made, many see Kamala Harris as a symbol of the oppressive system that so many are working to dismantle, and feel that she was complicit as a prosecutor.

I asked Mr. Raboy, a United States history teacher at New Rochelle High School, what he thought about Kamala Harris and whether he thought she was a smart pick for Vice President. The following quotes are from an email exchange. He said, 

“Traditionally, (especially in the 20th century) VP picks were chosen to attract some portion of the electorate. [Harris] was from the West, Biden from the East. She was attractive to many groups including women, African-Americans (AA women have been a vital faction for the Democrats for a long time now), and Asian-Americans. Her record in the Senate was also attractive to liberals and progressives.  For those reasons, she was an excellent pick, but also a risky one, because the right could paint her a radical (¨the most far-left senator besides Bernie Sanders¨), and did effectively. What makes her so interesting (David Axlrod´s idea, not mine) is she is essentially considered the natural heir to Biden as presumptive Democratic candidate for President in 2024 (because of Biden's age), which is unique because no VP-elect has ever been spoken about in that way.” 

Mr. Raboy’s point about African-American women is true. Black women make up about 6.6 percent of the United States population, and according to CNBC, at least 91% of Black women voted for Biden. Black women across the country, especially in swing states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, led efforts to get people registered to vote and make change (e.g., the efforts of Stacey Abrams and her organizations, The New Georgia Project and Fair Fight, as well as LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund). In addition, many Black women across the country were, and still are, very enthusiastic about the idea of a black woman as Vice President, which further pushed them to vote blue. 

When asked if he thinks Harris could increase partisanship, Mr. Raboy answered, 

“I think it's clear she has increased partisanship, but because of the efficacy of right-wing media to label her and the times we are living in. (It's worth mentioning that VPs generally will not have a profound impact on the country, but Biden seemed to have a more prominent role in the Obama administration so the same might be true for Harris.)  I think any VP choice (and the Democrats in general) are seen as an existential threat to the nation by many Americans and some Republicans (and the same is true for how the Dems/Americans see Republicans).” 

We will have to wait and see what Kamala Harris’s legacy will be as Vice President of the United States. Regardless of the many accomplishments and controversies of her career, her arrival brings a new sense of hope for many Democrats. While the Biden-Harris ticket won the popular vote in the end, it was still a close race. This could indicate that while the majority of the country feels that neither the Trump-Pence or Biden-Harris tickets are perfect, they also feel that this new administration could be a step in a better direction.