I don’t typically pay attention to Apple News notifications. They clog my phone and I tend to clear them immediately, but on August 11th, one name stuck out to me: Kamala Harris.
When I heard that Joe Biden had picked Kamala Harris as his running mate, one part of me was proud that a woman of South Asian descent had finally made it to the big leagues. It honestly gave me hope for my own future. The other part of me questioned: of all the potential woman candidates, why did Biden have to pick her?
Harris has most definitely made history as the first woman of both Black and Indian descent to be chosen as a running mate for a U.S. presidential election. However, it’s difficult to feel at peace while knowing that hundreds of minorities and people of color have suffered at her hand. Sure, one might ask: how does a woman of color oppress people of color? Well, I asked the same question.
Power can get deep into anyone’s head, and once it takes control, escaping its grasp is a real struggle. I really hoped that the same was true for Kamala Harris because the alternative was quite scary. My fears subsided once I learned that Ms. Harris had pushed for programs that helped people find jobs instead of putting them in prison. I felt that I could accept her back into the South Asian community. Then, another headline renewed my fears: “How Kamala Harris Fought to Keep Nonviolent Prisoners Locked Up.” Again, I prayed that it was clickbait, but you can only rationalize so much.
That one contradiction pulled me into the deepest parts of the internet, researching every one of Kamala Harris’ policies and actions. “D.A. won’t pursue death in cop slaying.” “Kamala Harris defends California’s death penalty.” “Kamala Harris announced police anti-bias training.” “Kamala Harris’ soft-on-police past haunts her…” I felt my heart drop faster than Ms. Harris’ credibility. The word “opposite” had been in my vocabulary for a long time, but this was the first person who embodied every meaning of the word. I was convinced that Kamala Harris made her decisions based on the flip of a coin.
However, I would still settle for her campaign with Biden. As a person of color, I don’t really have another choice. My parents did come here legally, but with Trump as president, there is every possibility that one day, my family might not be welcome in the United States any longer. That is how unpredictable he is. Biden is not much better with his racial remarks and principles, but I guess that’s why we call it “the lesser of two evils.”
There are a hundred reasons why Joe Biden should not be president, and there are another hundred reasons why Kamala Harris should not be his vice president, but for each one of those reasons, there are five reasons for why Donald Trump should never be president again. We have to believe in a change in our government for 2020, and without jinxing it, how much worse can it get? At the very least, we can hope to set a precedent, something that inspires the young minds of our generation to do better.
Written in August 2020