What picking Harris represents
Biden sees Black women as a powerful and important voting demographic.
Last summer, President Trump was going about his usual business of using women of color as targets for his bigotry.
At his rally in Greensboro, N.C., Trump bashed Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Dmassachusetts, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez, D-NY, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Dminnesota and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Dmichigan, as ingrates who didn’t deserve to live in America, much less criticize it.
He then basked in the hatefulness of the chants of “Send her back,” that were aimed at Omar, who came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee as a child.
But COVID-19 — an illness that has killed more than 160,000 Americans in six months and was largely unleashed by Trump’s incompetence — has shut down his rallies. It is also, at least right now, shutting down his chances to win a second term.
And as one of Trump’s main avenues to spew hatred against Black women and other women of color has been shut down, his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, has opened up another one for Black women to use to turn Trump’s bigotry against him.
He did that by choosing Sen. Kamala Harris, D-california, as his running mate.
Right now, the fanfare over Harris’ selection as Biden’s vice presidential running mate is more about the sweep of history and a celebration of American diversity that Trump either marginalizes or vilifies.
A child of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, there’s no escaping the fact that Harris’ presence on the ticket as vice presidential nominee has the potential to energize a large segment of America — Black women — who, despite their loyalty, have struggled to move from the backdrop to the forefront of the Democratic party.
Combine Harris’ presence on the Democratic ticket with Trump’s frequent attacks on women of color, and Black women will not only turn out to vote in higher numbers, but many — especially the women of Harris’ sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and the other Black Greek organizations — will deploy their members to get people out to vote.
That can wind up being a formidable force.
According to census figures, 55 percent of eligible Black women voters cast ballots in the 2018 midterm elections. That was six points above the national average.
With a Black woman on the Democratic presidential ticket, that percentage will undoubtedly go up. Not just because of more Black women voting, but because of Black women being excited enough to work to get more people voting.
Because … that’s what we do.
“There was no energy behind Biden, and because there was no energy behind Biden, he risked losing,” said Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer.
“The only energy behind Biden was the push to get him to select a Black woman, and because of that, he now has energy …”
Sawyer said that while she’s more on the left politically than Harris, the announcement that she would be Biden’s vice presidential pick thrilled her.
“As a Black woman, I was shocked, because I was so over Biden and his VP pick,” said Sawyer, who, like Harris, is an AKA. “But when I saw it announced, I went crazy yesterday. I found myself overwhelmingly excited about it. I had a lot of joy …
“It just gave me joy and hope that no matter where we align politically, I know for the simple fact that she’s a Black woman that she had hurdles to overcome, and I was just happy for her ... as an AKA, I put on pink and green as soon as it was announced.”
It may have taken a lot for Biden, as well as many of those around him, to resist the idea that a Black woman would be a risky choice — considering that in 2016, Hillary Clinton, a white woman, was at the top of the ticket and lost, and in 1984 and 2008, vice presidential candidates Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin didn’t boost Walter Mondale or John Mccain to victory.
But what’s riskier is to dismiss the demographic changes that are reshaping the nation by going with choices that don’t excite people who are part of those changes. It’s riskier to look at America and not see everyone who is part of it.
And it’s even worse to demonize those who are part of the America that is growing to those who are part of the America that is shrinking.
Demonizing is what Trump has done through most of his presidency, with his rallies and his tweets. But we’ll see how it works out for him now that Harris, a member of a group that he vilifies the most, is on the Democratic presidential ticket.
We’ll see what happens now that the Black women who he used to weaponize in his rallies, and who he insults in his tweets, are energized by Harris as a motivating force to work to put him out of office.
And to put America back on a path to normalcy and sanity.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Tonyaa Weathersbee at 901568-3281, tonyaa.weathersbee@commercialappeal.com or follow her on Twitter @tonyaajw.