Will This Election Be Transformational?

The arc of history may be bending very slowly towards justice, but this election season has revealed that something organic, almost imperceptible, has been bending the country towards an authentic multiculturalism – not just population change, but truly inclusive political involvement and national influence.  Kamala Harris and the Democratic party are leading the way.

 There is no doubt that America is a multicultural nation - diversity exists, but true inclusion and equality have not yet been achieved .  As we watch what's been happening this summer, however, recent progress is becoming apparent.

Over time, we have seen many features of a multicultural population. - unfamiliar foods, language, songs, music, literature,  performing art, visual arts, speech, customs - at first considered  “foreign and suspect,” gradually, almost imperceptibly, become woven into the "crazy quilt" of our lives - transforming from “different” to “American.” 

Sixty years ago, there were only four African Americans in the US Congress, none in the Senate.  In 1966, the first Black senator since Reconstruction was elected.  By 1984,  the numbers grew to 22 Black representatives, but again, no senators. Now there are 63 African American members of Congress, four of whom are senators.  In the 2024 election, the Democratic party is nominating even more Black candidates for national and local offices and it looks like many of them will win.

One hundred and five years after Emancipation, Shirley Chisholm announced her candidacy for president. Sixteen years later, Jesse Jackson became the only other African American in the 20th century to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination.  In the early years of the 21st century, however, Barack Obama not only became the Democratic Party's nominee, but won and served two terms.  In the 2020 election, Kamala Harris became another first, completing a term as Vice President and, now, running as the Democratic nominee for President.  The composition of American leadership is finally becoming more inclusive. 

Within hours of the moment Kamala was called to the top of the Democratic ticket, there was an immediate outpouring of support for her. A "movement," starting with Black women and quickly spreading to Black men, white women, and white "dudes," is transforming  Obama's "Hope" into Harris's "Joy."  

Between 2009 and 2017,  not only did Obama make health care affordable and accessible to millions, he also quietly  brought many African Americans  into the political process.  After eight years of maturing in the political arena,  these Black newcomers, and many others,  have risen to positions of leadership across the political spectrum.  Joe Biden, having spent eight years working in Obama's diverse administration, assured the continuation of Obama's inclusivity when he selected an African American woman as his vice president, nominated the first Black female Supreme Court Justice, and handed off the leadership of the Democratic party to his African American VP.   Now, with a Black woman at the top of the Democratic ticket, the HOPE that Obama inspired is blossoming into the positivity, truly diverse influence, and much needed JOY of Kamala.

Here are a few of the many extraordinary speeches

Even if you watched them live, you may want to watch again -- They're that good!

A hundred years ago, W. E. B. Du Bois proposed that the problem of the 20th century was conflict and controversy among racial groups, particularly between African and European Americans. He concluded that

         Between these two worlds [black and white], despite much physical contact and daily intermingling, there is almost no community of intellectual life or point of transference where the thoughts and feelings of one race can come into direct contact and sympathy with the thoughts and feelings of the other.

How do you think DuBois would feel about today’s Democratic Party?

 Source: The Importance of Multicultural Education,‖ by G. Gay, 2004, Educational Leadership, 61(4), pp. 30–35. 

Copyright 2004 by ASCD. Reprinted with permission.