Kamala Harris: 6 Facts About Joe Biden’s Running Mate
If elected, she'll make history as America's first female vice president, as well as first African-American vice president and first Asian-American vice president
Yesterday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced his running mate for the 2020 elections: Kamala Harris. The 55-year-old senator from California is making history as the first African-American woman and South Asian woman to be nominated as a US vice presidential candidate of a major party.
“Black women and women of colour have long been underrepresented in elected office and in November we have an opportunity to change that. Let’s get to work,” Kamala (pronounced Comma-la) tweeted three hours before Joe Biden’s announcement. Scroll down for a brief introduction to Kamala Harris, and what you need to know about the woman who could potentially become America’s first female vice president.
Kamala Harris is of African-American and Indian descent. Her mother, scientist Shyamala Gopalan, had emigrated to the US from Tamil Nadu, while her father, Donald Harris, had emigrated from British Jamaica. If elected, Kamala will not only be the first female vice president in US history, but also the first African American and first Asian American vice president.
The pair had met while participating in the civil rights movement in the 60s. “It’s because of them and the folks who also took to the streets to fight for justice that I am where I am. They laid the path for me, as only the second Black woman ever elected to the United States Senate,” she wrote in an Instagram post on June 11.
It was reported that Kamala’s late mother had chosen her name, which has Indian and Hindu roots. Kamala means “lotus”, and is another name for Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess who leads people to their goals.
Kamala’s parents had divorced when she was seven. Her mother singlehandedly raised Kamala and her sister, Maya Harris – who is a lawyer and a political analyst for MSNBC. Maya was also a top campaign aide to Hilary Clinton.
When she was studying in law school, she was living with her sister Maya and her young daughter. She recalled her experience potty-training her niece: “I’m dealing with this brutal stuff, dog-eat-dog in school, and then I would come home and we would all stand by the toilet and wave bye to a piece of sh*t. It will put this place in perspective.”
She changed San Francisco’s law enforcement approach to teenage prostitution, where the girls are treated as victims rather than criminals
When she was working as the District Attorney of San Francisco, Kamala spearheaded a task force to crack down on the human trafficking of girls. As district attorney, she stopped the prosecution of young girls for prostitution, acknowledging that they were victims who needed treatment for trauma.