Is America ready to elect its first Black and South Asian woman president?
That’s what voters will decide come November.
Vice President Kamala Harris secured the Democratic Party’s nomination after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
She is the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket.
WUWM’s Race & Ethnicity Reporter Teran Powell talks with Dr. Wendy Smooth, a professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at The Ohio State University. Smooth also has an appointment in the department of political science.
Smooth explains that Harris being in the running for president didn’t happen in a vacuum; generations of Black women’s involvement in politics made it possible.
While the moment is a historic one, Smooth says Harris is facing challenges as she campaigns for the presidency, particularly because she is a Black and South Asian woman. For example, Harris' opponents are already questioning her identity, her qualifications and criticizing her appearance in an effort to diminish her accomplishments. Smooth says that has implications for all women of color, especially Black women.
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