OPINION: As with our country’s first black president, there is deep concern over Kamala Harris’ security following the Capitol uprising
Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in and is now the first female vice president in American history. And it was already speculated around 2024 whether Biden would reappear or Harris would serve as his heir.
To me, as a woman from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., as a black woman, as a woman in her 50s, as a lawyer, as a professional woman without biological children, who loves her nieces as if they my own is, I have a lot in common with the new VP. And I could no longer be proud of her and of her in this truly historic and majestic national moment.
Read more: Vice President Kamala Harris salutes little girl after inauguration
Kamala Harris has the chance to make history again in the near future: she could also become the country’s first female commander-in-chief. Currently, Harris is the first woman of color in a sea of white men before her who is just a heartbeat from the presidency. She will be Joe Biden’s right hand man and what he did for former president Barack Obama: the last one in the room.
Harris will be the last voice Biden hears before making crucial decisions, such as going to war, raising taxes, fighting COVD-19, achieving precise justice, establishing policies, and so on. But just like the first black president of our country, there is a deep anxiety about Harris’ security after the Capitol uprising, and the deep racial and political divisions we now (again) see in America.
While we all watched on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, how Biden and Harris were sworn into office, with pride in our hearts, the moment that made it all the more powerful came just before the oath when former president. Barack Obama and our new Mrs. Vice President Harris connect with the classic Obama fistfight. And if that was not enough to make us radiate pride, we watched a serious Black Girl Magic between the former First Lady Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris as they did the sister “fingertip” and see that any black person can easily be interpreted as a ‘girl, but you have to do it!’
It was all beautiful – except for the harsh reality that threatens in the background. The reality that the safety of our new president and vice president is not certain. And neither do our people. Just weeks before the majestic transfer of power, the American Capitol was looted and destroyed by violent insurgents and white domestic terrorists. The reason why the National Guard was called in (in excessive numbers: more than 25,000) was so that the inauguration could take place safely outside and the people – and the world – could show the peaceful transfer of power.
Is our new vice president, a woman and a colored person, safe in her new role? After working with the U.S. Secret Service and watching them in action every day as I dealt with the Obama White House 2010-2012, I would emphatically say yes. Given the evidence we now have, however, it is that insurgents intended to harm the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former vice president Mike Pence, it is essential that Biden and Harris be protected at all costs.
Let us not forget that America’s first black president and his family should have had more security just 12 years ago (even during the 2008 campaign) and that they threatened more dangerously and often more strongly than his predecessors. As you may remember, as early as 2007, candidate Obama had to get information about the secret service in the by-elections, not at his request, but at the request of senior senator in Illinois. Dick Durbin who was worried about his safety.
Following Obama’s election in November 2008, according to an NBC News Story titled “Obama Election Spurs Race Threat, Crime,” law enforcers saw an increase in hate crimes and threats to black citizens. And in 2009, after Obama became president, he said he would receive as many as 30 death threats a day.
Fast forward to January 6, 2021, and we are once again reminded of the danger of white rage and resentment on steroids. Happy Mayor Muriel Bowser secured the city of DC, and together with the federal authorities ensured the inauguration tradition and the peaceful transfer of power.
Read more: Mayor Muriel Bowser deserves her props to keep the Capitol of the country safe
But now the care of our first VP woman is in the hands of the US Secret Service agents of our country, who are an incredible group of civil servants who have long been trusted as non-parties who are now also diverse in that there are female agents, Black agents, LGBTQ agents, Latino agents, etc.
One of the most disturbing news reports that emerged after the siege of the Capitol was that agents across the government and in the military commando chain were endangered. What’s more, they had to undergo background checks for possible radicalization before the inauguration and to be placed on Biden and Harris’ details.
It was a wake-up call we never saw coming. But maybe we should.
The bottom line is this: Kamala Harris is a rare national treasure and we must protect her not only from physical harm, but also from nasty, misogynistic language, which black and brown women are so often the victim of. This language comes from Trump, former senator David Perdue (R-GA) and others who mentioned her names, belittled her, or simply refused to pronounce her name properly.
If we are going to teach our daughters, nieces and nephews of a brave new world of opportunities for them, they need the same institutional protection against physical threats and emotional harm that white women enjoy.
Sophia Nelson is a contributing editor of thegrio.com.
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The report Protecting Madam Vice President Kamala Harris, a national treasure, at all costs, first appeared on TheGrio.