For days, thousands of Americans have endured election anxiety. Votes were being counted day and night by news stations across the country, and the question of who would be the winner of this race lingered in our minds. On November 7th, a declaration was finally made. Joe Biden would be the 46th President of the United States of America. The atmosphere once filled with turbulent tension was finally fading away and in its wake came our first black female vice president who was of immigrant descent: Kamala Harris.
My mother and I sat expectantly in front of the television, waiting for one of the most significant speeches of our lifetime. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris strolled out, and you could see her smile radiating from underneath the black mask she wore and her eyes twinkling with pride. She was adorned in a crisp white suit, a color that symbolized the resistance to gender inequality by women in the Suffrage movement. The cheers of the crowd increased in volume and excitement. Just like that, Harris began her speech and every single woman in the nation could sense the tides changing for good.
In her speech, Harris reflects on her mother’s beliefs on how she viewed America as a beacon of opportunity for all people. Harris’s mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, represents many of the first-generation immigrants who come to the states in order to attain a better future. This makes me think of my own mother, who left all her familiar surroundings behind to embark on a journey full of possibilities. Though you can argue whether or not she was successful in her endeavor, she has left no stone unturned to make sure that I took advantage of everything this country had to offer. She is also the reason why I was able to reach my full potential and to continuously strive to achieve my goals.
Harris then transitions into discussing the generations of women before her who paved the way for this special moment, sacrificing everything in order to vote and have their voices heard. This year was the first time I was taking part in the voting process and I was absolutely ecstatic because this would be the year where I would finally be able to participate in our democracy and let my viewpoints be known. In high school, voting was emphasized, and back then I was not able to grasp why. I never had an interest in politics and even then I thought my vote would mean nothing because there were millions of other Americans who did it too. How would one small vote even make a difference? Well, it does. All these little votes eventually do add up and they do make a difference. To not vote, would be putting all the effort of past women to waste.
Harris brings up an interesting choice of words with the sentence “And what a testament it is to Joe’s character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exist in our country and select a woman as his vice president.” Basically, Harris highlights how choosing a woman for vice president was a particularly difficult task. Even after living in the 21st century, women are still not considered enough to take on big roles. It upsets me that choosing a woman for a huge leadership role would be considered risky, especially since we are just as capable as men to do a good job. But I applaud Biden for this decision because he’s finally choosing a person that represents minorities, such as Asians and African Americans, ethnic groups that are usually underrepresented in our government. So to see someone who looks like me on such a big stage makes me proud.
Lastly, the part of Harris’ speech that resonated with me the most was when she says “But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourselves in a way that others may not, simply because they’ve never seen it before, but know that we will applaud you every step of the way.”
These words exude immense power because it’s encouraging to all girls and young women like me out there that yes they have a chance to achieve great things because now there is someone like them who has accomplished such a great feat. Harris tells us to embrace our differences because that’s what makes us unique. Regardless of these differences, we still have the option to surge forward and fulfill our desires because at the end of the day we are all Americans.