Page 30 - EducationWorld October 2020

Expert Comment

Kamala Harris reviving

the American dream

RAJIV DESAI

HE RECENTLY CONCLUDED DEBATE between Being black, Asian, the daughter of
US Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Ka- immigrants from coloured lands like
mala Devi Harris, Joe Biden’s running mate, pro-
Tvided the clearest look yet at the choice before the India and Jamaica, Kamala Harris poses
American voter in November when America will elect its a huge threat to the one-dimensional
next President. Currently one of two senators from Califor-
nia, Harris comes with an impressive resumé having been mindset of angry working class whites
elected and served as district attorney of the city of San in America
Francisco and attorney general of the state of California.
Harris emerged on the national scene when Barack
Obama, running for a second presidential term, invited
her to speak at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. who are younger and wealthier. The age group with the larg-
A law-and-order Democrat, who is a favourite with Wall est share of protesters was people under 35 and the income
Street donors, she seems a natural heir to Obama’s legacy of the largest group of protesters was more than $150,000”
of intellectual and compassionate politics. (Rs.1 crore) per year.
Her elevation is especially noteworthy because should With these demographics, the movement has emerged
the Biden-Harris ticket win, she’ll be a heartbeat away as the largest-ever in American political history. BLM
from the presidency; perhaps even closer, given Biden’s has made a huge impact: In Minneapolis, city authorities
advanced years. In any case, a win puts her in with a better said they would defund the police department. New York
than even chance at the presidency. This makes for an ideal, scrapped a law that kept police disciplinary records secret.
more complex choice than even Barack Obama. Other cities and states banned deadly chokeholds of the
Indian-Jamaican-American Kamala Harris does not fit type that strangled George Floyd, a black bystander who
any stereotype. She is what the future of America looks like. fell afoul of the Minneapolis police.
This progressive evolution of American citizenship is his movement has found a strong supporter in Harris,
unsettling, especially for working class whites. They were Twhose parents — Jamaican father and Tamil mother —
miffed with Hillary Clinton, a woman who aspired to the met at a protest movement in Berkeley, the Mecca of stu-
White House. They were having none of it so they backed dent protests of the 1960s. Often criticised as being a “law
a cyclone hurricane typhoon white guy to assert their hold and order” official for her firm stance as attorney general
over America. They beat back the Hillary challenge, perhaps of California, Harris was quick to embrace BLM. “Noth-
less than fairly. Now here’s Harris with roots in the Indian ing that we have achieved that has been about progress,
subcontinent and the Caribbean. She’s a much tougher ad- in particular around civil rights, has come without a fight,
versary, representing as she does an Obama style option to and so I always am going to interpret these protests as an
voters looking to reassert America’s progressive values at essential component of evolution in our country — as an
home and around the world. essential component or mark of a real democracy,” she said
Being black, Asian, the daughter of immigrants from co- at the Boston convention of the National Association for the
loured lands like India and Jamaica, Kamala Harris poses a Advancement of Coloured People in September this year.
huge threat to the one-dimensional mindset of angry work- People are beginning to take a closer look at Harris, es-
ing class whites. Their resentment is voiced by Trump, with pecially in light of Donald Trump’s bizarre behaviour after
his racist, misogynist manifesto of white supremacy, male testing Covid positive. At the 2012 Democratic National
chauvinism and crony capitalism. This cocktail of hatred Convention, she wowed the audience with her vision: “…
and violence has been recently manifested in cities around The American dream belongs to the student… who doesn’t
America including Minneapolis, Portland among others, have much money but who goes to bed each night dream-
with Trump supporters battling it out in the streets with ing big dreams... It belongs to the immigrants, young and
protesters expressing their displeasure at police atrocities. old, who come to this country in search of a better life. And
Incontrovertibly, African Americans were the targets of it belongs to little girls who have the joy of watching their
the police as well as white supremacist groups that organ- mother, like I did, buy her first home. The American dream
ised counter demonstrations. A major outcome has been the belongs to all of us. And if we can work together and stand
growing popularity of Black Lives Matter, a movement that together and vote together… that’s a dream we will put
began in 2013 and has dramatically expanded its footprint. within reach of all our people!”
A loosely structured organisation, BLM has lent major sup- Her words ring prophetically true at this confused and
port to the protests. divisive moment in American history.
According to a Civis Analytics poll cited by The New York (Rajiv Desai is president of Comma Consulting and a well-known Delhi-
Times, “the movement appears to have attracted protesters based columnist)

30 EDUCATIONWORLD OCTOBER 2020