Who is Kamala Harris and How Will She be Successful as Vice President?
Harris’ Backstory
Kamala D. Harris is a democratic politician, and current 2020 U.S. Vice President-Elect, who has been working throughout her entire life to support the American people. Harris began her political career after being appointed district attorney for San Francisco County, California in 2003. She graduated from Howard University in 1986 with an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings in 1989. During Harris’ time as attorney general for two terms (2004-2010), she defended the rights for gay marriage in court and blocked a “kill the gays” initiative. She also worked to hold corporations accountable, acquired a $25-billion settlement for California homeowners who were hit by the foreclosure crisis, defended California’s landmark climate change law, and prosecuted countless sex traffickers. Once she was appointed as California’s first South-Asian-American and second African-American Senator in history (2017), she continued to defend LGBTQ+ rights by signing a brief that argues that transgender peoples should be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice. Although in 2015, Harris did argue that two prisoners should not receive state-funded gender transformation surgery Harris did justify her decision in 2019 by claiming it was on the behalf of her client from the California Detention Center. Ultimately in 2020, she has come out stating that she takes full responsibility for her actions and has since been working to correct her actions. She also expanded child care access for parents, supported veterans and their families, reformed the criminal justice system, and even introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage. More recently, in 2019-2020 Harris voted to convict President Trump of abuse in office, end military actions in Iran, and provide federal aid for Coronavirus epidemic impacts. She also voted against banning abortion after the 20th week. Now, Kamala D. Harris will be the first female and person of color to be Vice President of the United States after being handpicked by Joe Biden (2020 U.S. President-Elect).
How Can we be Sure Harris will be Successful in this position?
Harris has a history of voting in favor of the best interest of the people. In the past, she has protected vulnerable citizens from corporations who take advantage of them. Harris has already claimed that she will pass the Equality Act on her first day in office and Biden has pledged to have it passed within the first 100 days. She has made numerous statements about her view of the LGBTQ+ community and her current statements combined with her past actions that showcase her support, we know soon that we will have two powerful allies of the LGBTQ+ community in office. From Harris’s past actions we can rest assured that Harris has the best interest of all American people at heart.
What to Expect
No politician is perfect. Under immense pressure from the government and citizens, the Presidents and Vice Presidents have to make difficult decisions every day that will not please everyone’s view. Though we should not idolize politicians, we should praise Harris and Biden for being pro-LGBTQ+ because in a society as progressive as ours everyone should be accepting of other people’s lives. We are relying on Harris and Biden to work together to bring justice and safety to minorities everywhere during these trying times. Let us all hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
Sources:
https://www.harris.senate.gov/about
https://ballotpedia.org/Kamala_Harris