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“We did it, Joe,” the 49th vice president of the United States exclaimed four years ago — the phrase becoming something of a rallying cry, coming from a half-black, half-Indian woman married to a Jewish-American man. . This moment became a milestone in US socio-political history. For all its celebratory moments, American democracy still has a long way to go in terms of representation and inclusivity. When it comes to women, gender schemas in the world’s oldest democracy work as effectively as in emerging democracies to keep women away from the high table.
Can Kamala Harris be successful in the quest for the Holy Grail of occupying the Oval Office? The odds are stacked against her, starting with the delayed announcement of her candidacy. With less than a month to go before the Democratic convention secures her name on the ticket, Harris has a mountain to climb. The funding numbers are encouraging, but money can only go so far in attitudinal and ideological battles.
Women and politics
For starters, there’s a problem with the recall. Research (J Hitchon & C Chang, 1995) has found that voters remember female candidates in terms of their family and appearance, and their male counterparts in terms of campaign activities. Harris understands that and has made this tendency work for her by emphasizing her family background. However, in a deeply polarized American society gripped by backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), this strategy may no longer work as desired.
Also read | Indian Americans in offices that don’t reflect their population: Kamala Harris
American women have consistently voted at a higher rate than men for more than four decades. They are certainly no less political than men. Yet even they do not send enough women to political offices. Female candidates are still punished for expressing emotions, especially anger. Harris has tried to keep her “anger” in check, often slipping into banalities in her public speeches. She has become constant fodder for the meme factory. Time will tell whether this is a carefully thought-out strategy.
“Too colored”, “Not colored enough”
Harris was only the second Black woman in the country’s history to be elected to the U.S. Senate. This tells the world something that Americans cannot be proud of. “The most respected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman,” said Malcolm Harris has come a long way in jumping over fiery hoops of racial and gender discrimination. Her victory in the presidential election will be a bigger moment than Barack Obama’s presidency when it comes to America’s race issue. Ten years after the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement first appeared on social media, American society continues to struggle to find the golden balance. The anti-DEI agitators have now found effective means to punish individuals and institutions that do not adhere to supremacist boundaries.
Look | “She is experienced, tough and capable”: Joe Biden praises Kamala Harris
But Harris is not only black, she is also half-Indian and the country celebrated her from New Delhi to Chennai as its lost daughter. With a steadily growing population in the US over the years, Indians have emerged as a group with political ambitions. The cultural, regional, and religious associations of the Indian community have played an important role in increasing the political influence of Indian Americans. The flip side of this is the growing resentment among the fraudulent so-called originals – the whites – against powerful immigrant communities. Ironically, even black Americans harbor some resentment toward immigrant communities that have reached the top rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. Although this is sociologically ‘natural’, people like Harris are particularly affected by it. She is colored, but not enough for some.
A course correction too late
2024 is not 2018, when a wave of Democrats in general and female candidates in particular fielded Democratic female politicians of different ethnicities like Debra Haaland and Sharice Davids (Native American); Ayanna Pressley and Jahana Hayes (Women of Color); Veronica Escobar, Sylvia R. Garcia, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Latinas) to Congress. The Republican campaign is buoyed by many foreign policy missteps by the Biden administration, chief among them its role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even the captive Democratic voter voices his dissent. The assassination attempt on Donald Trump has further increased his already strong chances.
Choosing Harris over Biden is a tactical course correction for Democrats, but it may come a little too late in the day. Her strengths may not be optimized, but her weaknesses are there for all to see. As her term as Vice President progresses, she bears all the blame but is unable to reap any rewards.
Harris has the unenviable position of being the woman who cleans up after the man. If she triumphs, it will be her personal victory, not that of the party.
(Nishtha Gautam is a Delhi-based author and academic.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author