Kamala Harris

Is Kamala Harris Really the Least Popular VP in a Half-Century?

The right has seized on the argument, which is based on shoddy interpretation of polls and ignores the fact that net favorability ratings for current officials are much more affected by partisan polarization than for their predecessors decades ago. 

Historically White Fraternities and Sororities Should be Accountable for White Supremacy

by Taulby Edmondson

Although many White Greek Letter organizations have upheld white supremacy, the role of Black fraternities and sororities in advancing demands for more inclusive campuses makes it difficult to call for a blanket ban on the social organizations. 

Southern Baptist Leaders Called Kamala Harris a ‘Jezebel.’ That’s not just Insulting, it’s Dangerous, Experts Say

Religious Studies scholar Jessica Johnson says that the "Jezebel" trope used against Harris connects suspicion of women's power, old southern stereotypes of Black women as morally deficient, and present-day White Christian Nationalism.

Vice President Kamala Harris Could Kill the Filibuster Herself

Columnist Hayes Brown looks at Kamala Harris's tiebreaking role in the context of the changing prestige and power of vice presidents from John Adams to Mike Pence. 

Kamala Harris and the Modern Vice Presidency

by Richard Moe

Kamala Harris seems poised to exert influence over policy and legislation as vice president. In this sense, she will carry forward the evolution of the office, according to a former vice presidential chief of staff who contributed to the development of the "modern vice presidency." 

Kamala Harris Will Play Major Role As Vice President, Historian Says

Historian Julian Zelizer suggests Kamala Harris will make history not just because of her ethnic identity but because of her likely considerable involvement in White House policymaking. 

Patsy Takemoto Mink Blazed The Trail For Kamala Harris – Not Susan B. Anthony

by Judy Tzu-Chun Wu

Patsy Takemoto Mink, elected in 1972 as the first woman of color in Congress, deserves recognition as a pioneering advocate for gender equity and the rights of Americans Caribbean and Pacific territories, and for preparing a path for Kamala Harris's election as Vice President. 

Kamala Harris Shows Women Can Thrive In Politics Doing Things Their Own Way

by Kimberly A. Hamlin

Kamala Harris's candidacy shows a new path for women in public life: being judged as an autonomous human being, rather than as a wife or mother. This will be a radical change if it sticks. 

The Meaning of Kamala Harris: The Woman who will Break New Ground as Vice-President

Kamala Harris will be the first woman and woman of color to hold the vice presidency. Her political past offers a complicated picture of the kinds of policies she's likely to advance in that role. 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities are Remaking American Politics

by Crystal R. Sanders

The 2020 presidential election has debunked the myth that historically Black colleges do not prepare students to work in white-dominated institutions, and demonstrated that HBCUs have prepared their alumni to change the world one precinct, one county and one state at a time.

‘Game-Changer’: Kamala Harris Makes History As Next Vice President

Historian Manisha Sinha contends that Kamala Harris's ascent to the vice presidency helps to make the case for America as an interracial democracy of men and women including immigrants.

'I Won't be the Last': Kamala Harris Accepts Place in History

In a moment of reflection, Harris invoked her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who left her home in India for California in 1958, at the age of 19. “Maybe she didn’t quite imagine this moment,” Harris said. “But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.”  

‘Harris Has the Potential To Change the Face of U.S. Politics’

Historians Tera Hunter, Keisha Blain, Daina Ramey Berry, Manisha Sinha and Joanne Freeman are among experts who predict the impact of Harris's service as Vice President. 

What Does The Triumph of Biden-Harris Represent Historically?

by Stanislao Pugliese

"Americans should not make the same mistake committed in Italy after World War II in thinking that fascism was merely a “parenthesis” in Italian history."

Martha S. Jones on The Power of Black Women That Led to Kamala Harris' Nod for VP

by Martha S. Jones

Shut out from the white-led suffrage movement by the beginning of the 20th century, Black women built their own political movement. 

Kamala Harris and the Shameful History of Slamming Women as 'Unlikable’

Claire Bond Potter and Allison K. Lange weigh in on the long history of the term "likability" as a limit to women's political participation and power. 

Kamala Harris’s ‘Little History Lesson’ About Lincoln’s Supreme Court Vacancy Wasn’t Exactly True

Lincoln delayed in announcing a replacement to Chief Justice Roger Taney in large part because the leaving the appointment unresolved would help preserve his fragile coalition through the election, especially by inducing potential rivals to campaign for him.

Two Visions of Higher Education Illuminate the Chasm between Harris and Pence

by Marybeth Gasman and Adam Laats

The Vice Presidential candidates' university affiliations--Harris's attendance at Howard and membership in a prominent Black sorority, and Pence's political affinity for Liberty University--show that both HBCUs and Evangelical colleges are important and politically significant parts of the American higher education system.

Where Kamala Harris’ Political Imagination Was Formed

by Tessa Rissacher and Scott Saul

A Black cultural center in Berkeley introduced Kamala Harris to activism and the connections between culture and politics. 

Film Shows Trailblazing Black Female Editor, VP Candidate

A new documentary short highlights the journalistic and political career of Charlotta Bass, the Progressive Party candidate for Vice President in 1952.