MAGA supporters spout that we should not support Kamala Harris because she is just a “DEI” hire. This statement is not just harmful to Harris but to us kids of color. By saying that Harris is on the ballot only because of her race and gender, Republicans are not only diminishing her accomplishments but are also sending us, America’s youth of color, the message that our accomplishments will never count.
Kamala Harris is a role model to minority youth. In fact, personally, the representation Harris brings to the White House has profoundly impacted my life. For example, in late 2020 and early 2021, when Harris was running for and being inaugurated to the role of vice presidency, my 10-year-old self was elated. I wore clothes highlighting how we were both Indian. I started wearing Chucks and plastic pearls to imitate her. I adorned my room with magazine clippings about her life. I even begged my parents to get me a Kamala Harris action figure, which I preferred to play with over all my Barbies. This jubilee wasn’t because I was particularly enthusiastic about her policies or because I liked her style. I was obsessed with her because she was an accomplished woman who looked like me.
A student in Northeast Connecticut, I had not seen many other Indians. Furthermore, the only Indian characters in popular kids’ media at the time were all gross caricatures of Indian culture. Additionally, whenever I would mention where my family is from, it would lead to blank stares from adults and children alike. I felt that no one knew that people like me existed. Therefore, seeing a successful, intelligent, Tamil woman in such a high position was powerful for me. She became my role model and reminded me that even though I would face bigotry and even though I did have a different cultural background than most powerful people, I still could achieve great things.
Additionally, that feeling of being represented by someone with such prestige made me prouder of my culture. After seeing her be loved by the American people for who she is, I began improving my literacy skills in my home language: Tamil. I started listening to Tamil music. When Kamala Harris made one of my favorite foods, Masala Dosa, on Youtube, I started learning how to make Indian food from my grandmother. Harris’ pride in her Indian heritage made me want to learn more about mine. She taught me to love myself.
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More importantly, Kamala Harris inspired me to learn more about what happens in our country. With Harris as a role model, I aspire to become a lawyer and a congressman like her. Kamala Harris directly showed me that I can achieve great things if I put my mind to it.
To be clear, we should not support an unqualified person just because of their race. Kamala Harris is a good candidate for more reasons than “she is brown.” Before her vice presidency, she was a successful district attorney, California’s attorney general, and a senator. She worked to get more affordable health care, to reform the discriminatory bail system, and to protect our environment. While vice president, the rate of inflation and costs for certain medication under Medicare decreased. She has a degree in political science (a characteristic that her opponent lacks even though they are both fighting for a powerful, political role). She has the credentials; she has the success stories. And, she brings diversity as an added bonus.
The fact that Kamala Harris is a Indian-American woman made 10-year-old me learn more about my own heritage and have clear goals for the future, and seeing Harris as the face of our nation is sure to do the same for other little girls of both Indian and African descent who may feel unsure of themselves because of their heritage. Therefore, having a qualified diverse candidate is beneficial to our country and our youth. It is because of Kamala Harris’ ethnicity and gender that she is a role model for tomorrow’s racially-minoritized changemakers. Why is that a bad thing?
Jeena Ann Kidambi is a student in northeast Connecticut.
