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The Historic Win of “Madam Vice President” Needs No Qualifier
Yes, she is Black and Indian, but never forget that in this role she represents White women too
“Groundbreaking: Kamala Harris becomes first Black, South Asian woman vice president” Newsweek tweeted. “Kamala Harris to make history as the first Black woman vice president,” reads the CBS News headline. “Harris becomes first Black woman, South Asian elected VP,” reads the Associated Press headline.
To many, Newsweek’s tweet and headlines for the Associated Press and CBS News’ stories seem harmless, complimentary even. But they perpetuate the erasure and minimization of Black women and women of color’s achievements for all women. And that is far more dangerous and damaging than most of us realize. Always racially qualifying Vice President-Elect Harris’ monumental achievement suggests that it is not legitimate, and that she achieved it only on a curve, instead of earning it.
And that ideology continues to undermine how our nation, as whole, views Black women specifically and women of color overall. So, instead of being congratulatory or even inclusive as these publications intend, both serve as more painful evidence of how truly unseen women of color continue to be even when one of us shatters this nation’s second highest glass…
