What will Kamala Harris's Vice-Presidential Election do for the Future of Women of Color in Politics?

With the monumental election of not only the first woman, but woman of color as the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris has made history. Will having a multiracial woman as Vice President increase the number of women of color in politics?

Elevator Pitch:

Like her election in 2020, Kamala Harris has made history and broken barriers all throughout her political career. She was the first Black woman to be elected as District Attorney in San Francisco and she was the first Black and South Asian American woman to be elected as Attorney General in California as well as in the U.S. Senate. Even in the past five months that she has been in the White House she and President Joe Biden have made outstanding accomplishments. Harris is intricately involved in administering and implementing Biden’s progressive agenda. They have a remarkable relationship and true partnership which expresses how Harris is not only a role model, but a true leader. These are only a few of Harris’s political achievements, but she serves as an inspiration to many women of color and encourages them to become a voice for change and political activist just like her. 

Author’s Main Message:

Historically, it has been rare for women to enter the political field without enduring some form of gender/racist discrimination or intimidation by their male counterparts. They have been underrepresented for centuries, but within the past few decades, there has been an obvious increase in the amount of women of color in politics. Because Kamala Harris is now holding the highest elected office that not only a woman, but an African American and South Asian woman has ever held in the United States, I will use this article to discuss how this phenomenon will encourage and increase the diversity of women that enter politics. 

The History of Women of Color in Congress:

Because Harris’s election is as recent and new to American politics as it is, I will be looking at past political data to assume what the future of women of color in politics will be. Specifically for this piece I am going to be looking at women of color in the U.S. Congress. Patsy Mink, of Asian Pacific Islander descent, was the first woman of color to serve in the U.S House of Representatives. She continued her career in the House until 2002, and since her first election, a total of 83 women of color have served in the House of Representatives, with 46 currently serving. In the Senate, a total of five women of color have served, including Kamala Harris, and the three incumbents that are still serving today.  

Using R Statistical Software, I created a bar graph that displays the history of women in the U.S. Congress. I used data from the Center for American Women and Politics and each bar is separated and stacked to show the different races of each woman elected. The first graph includes the election of the first woman into Congress in 1917, and the second bar graph starts with the election of Patsy Mink in 1964 for a closer look at the women of color that have been elected. I found it important to include Caucasian women that have been elected because like women of color, their numbers have significantly increased over the years as well. From the graphs one can see that the majority of women in Congress have been white and the majority of women of color have been African American. Most importantly one can see that as time goes by, the number of women of color in Congress has increased immensely. There has not been one year since 1964 that a woman of color has not been elected and the numbers continue to rise with each election. 

From these graphs it can be predicted that the numbers will continue to increase and more origins of descent will be brought into U.S. politics. Eight different races have served at some point in the U.S. Congress and as time goes on, more races will be represented in not just Congress, but local and state governments as well. Currently, women of color make up 20% of all women serving in statewide elective offices, 522 women of color serve as state legislators, and 14 serve as city mayors. Women of color are not only making a statement in politics, but they are finally able to represent other women like them that have been discriminated against for so long. Kamala Harris made history in November of 2020, and her dedication to equity and diversity will inspire women of color to run for offices just like her. 

Works Cited

Center for American Women and Politics. Eagleton Institute of Politics. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Vazquez, Maegan Kate Sullivan. “President Biden’s First 100 Days: What He’s Gotten Done - CNNPolitics.” CNN, 28 Apr. 2021,

edition.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/president-biden-first-100-days/index.html.

Weinberg, Tessa, and Sruthi Palaniappan. “Kamala Harris: Everything You Need to Know about the New Vice President.” ABC News, 20 Jan. 2021, abcnews.go.com/Politics/kamala-harris-latest-democrat-run-president/story?id=60521324.