Election week is finally behind us. It was an exhausting emotional rollercoaster at times, but it was also exciting and inspirational. Every American was constantly checking the electoral map for days, looking for any updates. It was particularly stress-inducing to see the numbers so tight in many states. But in the end, we found out that in January we will be turning the page to a new chapter for American history. Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump and became the President-Elect. The real star of this election wasn’t Biden or Trump though, it was Kamala Harris, the new Vice President-Elect.
Kamala Harris was able to do something that no other presidential or vice-presidential candidate was ever able to do before, she shattered the White House’s glass ceiling. The glass ceiling represents the theoretical barrier that blocks certain groups of people from reaching the highest level in a given hierarchy. When Joe Biden was announced as the President-Elect, Kamala Harris not only became the first woman to be elected for the office of the Vice-President, but also the first woman of color. Her election was historic and monumental. The United States has been a country for over 200 years, and the people in the highest positions of power have always been male, and all but one of those males have been white. Harris’s election represents the fruition of everything that the feminist and gender equality movements have been working towards since the Suffrage movement won women the right to vote 100 years ago.
It also must be acknowledged that Harris’s inherent privileges are less than those of most of her political peers. The interconnected nature of gender and race have been proven to result in a system of disadvantage and discrimination for individuals whose identity lies at the intersection of multiple different minority identities. Harris’s election is so important because it will pave the way for other people with intersectional identities to take on positions of power.
It is so important for all people, but especially children and young adults, to be able to look at people in positions of power and see themselves. It is important to be able to see someone who looks like them. For over 200 years little girls had no example to look to of a woman, or a woman of color in a leadership position at the White House. Now, when little girls see Kamala Harris as the Vice-President of the United States, they can see that the White House is a place for people like them. They can see that they are the ones who can create change in the world, and it is within their realm of possibilities to lead that change.
Kamala Harris represents more than just herself. She represents more than just the vice-presidency. Kamala Harris represents every American who has been fighting to break through barriers and shatter glass ceilings.
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