Harris seizes moment in historic V-P nomination
■ Harris makes history, is 1st woman of colour to be V-P nominee
Wilmington, Delaware, Aug. 20: Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice-president on Wednesday, cementing her place in history as the first Black woman on a major party ticket and promising she and Joe Biden will rejuvenate a country ravaged by a pandemic and riven by racial and partisan divides.
In an address capping the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention, the California senator introduced herself as the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants and someone who embodies the values of a new, more inclusive America. Evoking the lessons of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a biologist and Indian immigrant, Ms Harris said that her mother instilled in her a vision of “our nation as a beloved community — where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from or who we love.”
“My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she’s looking down on me from above,” she said. Ms Harris’ mother died of cancer in 2009.
Mixing a former prosecutor’s polish with the
deeply personal, Ms Harris also spoke of her Jamaican father and getting a “stroller’s eye view” of the civil rights movement as her parents protested in the streets in the 1960s. “There is no vaccine for racism,” Ms Harris said. “We have got to do the work.”
“In this election, we have a chance to change the course of history,” Ms Harris said. “We’re all in this fight.”
Ms Harris addressed a party that has staked its future on bringing together a racially diverse coalition of voters. Barack
Obama, meaning the nation’s first Black President introduced the woman trying to be the first Black person to hold the vice-presidency, preceded her in the convention event.