This is a historic year on many accounts. This week (August 18th, to be precise) marked the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which enfranchised (white) women to vote in this country, after a 70+ years' long effort propelled by the convention in Seneca Falls. How wonderful would it have been to be celebrating the centennial of (some) women's suffrage (as black women didn't get afforded full voting rights until closer to 1965 although black men were technically enfranchised with the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, although not without barriers to actually exercising their right) in this country with appropriate representation, like with a qualified woman holding the office president or being a current presidential nominee?
Obviously our country is not quite there yet. I just finished feminist writer Rebecca Traister's excellent book "Good and Mad," in which she chronicles women's historic struggles for representation, freedom from oppression and sexual violence, and the fury which, especially in light of the outcome of our 2016 election and #MeToo, will lay dormant no more. Traister is a wonderful writer and I am proud to join her in being one of those "angry American women" trying to channel the "righteous fury of under-representation" into progress and activism (and not just blog-ranting). I sincerely hope we are amidst a huge sea change in the culture around women's place in all workplaces and in all levels of government so that true representation of our interests can become a reality. Why did it take 150 years since the founding of our country to allow women to vote (something which I think we probably now take for granted!)? How can women make up more than 50% of our country's population, yet make up less than a quarter of congressional seats and never have been represented in presidential or vice presidential elected leadership? (Of course we know why, and this is why we're mad). Women are practical, empathetic, consensus builders who overwhelmingly will prioritize children, health, family policies, and education, and we will all be better off with them making the big decisions and the laws! We would be much better off during this current pandemic if we'd had HRC leading us (Trevor Noah recently interviewed her remotely in his "Late Night Socially Distanced show" and asked her, "What are you doing with your time? You know, besides going around everywhere saying, 'I told you so, I told you so....'?" :))
I am thrilled at the selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's running mate for the position of Vice President, which was announced last week. While I have been behind Kamala for a long while, as she is a whip smart, savvy, personable, and engaging woman of color who has represented my home state in the Senate and before, and would make a a great president (I even have a bumper sticker from having donated to her campaign), it's true that our country built on racism and (white) patriarchy may sadly still not quite be ready for a woman (especially of one of color) to be the actual presidential nominee or president-elect. Nevertheless, my sense of the winds of change in this country (if we can combat vote suppression of minorities and elect diverse officials) is that we are not far away, and that is incredibly exciting and gives me a small amount of hope in such dark times (and I cannot wait to see her debate Mike Pence). I don't know if Kamala herself is THE future of our party and our country but she could very possibly be just a 77-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency if we get things right this election year, which I will happily take as a win and progress for all of those citizens who feel like their voices have been silenced and gone unheard. I would be thrilled to vote for her (or any other progressive and qualified woman, as my favorite candidate was Elizabeth Warren) for not only the supporting role but the head job itself. I wasn't a huge fan of Joe Biden as the most qualified Democratic candidate this year, but I am all in for getting him elected now and especially proud of him for understanding our current cultural and historical circumstances, and having the backbone to put a eminently qualified woman like Kamala at his side on the ticket if she couldn't actually be leading it. How amazing could it could be for all the little girls (and boys) of color in this country, including those of African-American or Asian/Indian descent (like I am!), to see someone like them, and the first such woman ever, holding higher office?
Many experts call 1992 the "Year of the Woman" in light of the historic election of women to higher office in light of multiple sexual harassment claims, continuing the strong feminist work of prior decades. If Donald Trump was the result of the angry white-lash to our election of Barack Obama (sadly, our only non-white-male president in the history of our country), let the tears of women's grief and anger of the past few years nourish those seeds and make 2020 and beyond Years of WOMEN (and, with hope, lots of women of color) in response!
No comments:
Post a Comment