The U.S. is seeing a woman of colour assume a political position this high for the first time ever.
Storymap by Maha Abbasi
By Jennifer Nguyen
Kamala Harris becoming America’s first BIPOC female vice-president-elect on Nov. 7 has prompted reflections on a time-honoured under-representation consistently seen in its politics.
Not only is Harris the first woman in over two centuries to be elected to the position, but she is also the first woman of colour to come this close to the top in U.S. politics.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” said Harris in her victory speech. “Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
Harris is biracial of Black and South Asian descent; particularly, she was born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, who were both immigrants to the United States.
The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) reported that women of colour make up just 7.5 per cent of more than 7,000 state legislators currently serving nationwide, or about a fourth among female legislators.
Both of Harris’s elections to the U.S. Senate in 2016 and vice presidency in 2020 were milestones for women in American politics according to CAWP.
The barriers that women of colour face in politics are unique as a ground where “race and gender intersect,” according to the author of Women of Color in American Politics. And to challenge the stereotypes facing this group is a challenge itself due to “the dearth of women of color in visible public positions,” they added.
Storymap: A list of influential women in politics and business across the globe. The majority of this list are not women of colour, something that reflects the current state of our world. (Maha Abbasi/JRN270)
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