Kamala Harris: A Current Fucked Up Case of the Political Glass Ceiling
Via eitb.eus
What better way to end a weekend knowing that a Black woman is put in a position to be the savior to an extremely fucked up situation. President Biden has decided that he is no longer seeking the Democratic Presidential nomination and is endorsing his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to be the hopeful next face of the party. Whereas it's customary for a President to nominate sensibly based on the hierarchy of their party, it’s not lost on us that it’s a real-life glass ceiling that Harris is approaching.
“Glass Cliff” is a situation in which women are promoted to higher positions during crisis duress or recession when the chance of failure is more likely.-Investopedia
The Glass Cliff is a fucked up patriarchal attempt to claim diversity when in fact, it only welcomes more opportunities for women, especially women of color, to experience even more scrutiny. And with the odds already not in their favor, their “failure” justifies why more mediocre white men are the answer. And should they succeed, they are deemed the exception. After a failed attempt to cancel student loan debt and bring back Obamacare, not including funding an entire genocide in Palestine, President Biden is stepping aside to have a Black woman settle the score. What’s even more fucked up is that liberal media will paint Kamala Harris as the potential savior of the Democratic Party, coming fresh off of the new Trump-Vance ticket becoming established. For Black people, the idea of a Black woman president is exciting, but it’s bound to cause dissonance as the majority of Black liberal voters recognize the steep drop off of the Glass Cliff.
If not, to make matters worse, Harris will find herself not only approaching the glass cliff but will also be in a national media “hot seat,” proving her credentials to white mediocre interviewers, politicians, etc., on why she deserves the opportunity. Harris stated in response to Biden’s nomination of her: “My intention is to earn and win this nomination.” And every white mediocre male with a platform who gets any access to her until November 5th will intend to make her “earn it.”
Whereas Kamala Harris may not be every Black person’s favorite nominee for this election, they can empathize with her and feel the potential pressure on her in this arena. For Black people who manage to enter white spaces of power, the stakes are very high. They are required to not only meet a level of excellence, competence, and work ethic that privileged whites could never reach and do not aspire to but they are also expected to excel beyond it and are judged by a strict standard of perfection. Watching these less qualified individuals grille and condemn Black candidates only emphasizes that the circumstances are so dire that the so-called opportunity itself isn’t desirable. Additionally, as a woman and a Black woman, it is expected that part of the scrutiny will focus on her personal life, roots, and ancestry.
When Ketanji Brown started her grilling process with members of Congress as she awaited being approved to move to the Supreme Court, thousands of Black citizens watched this over-qualified Black woman be questioned harshly by less educated and less impressive white men. Her competency, character, and work ethic were consistently questioned and scrutinized, despite the three horrible Supreme Court justices that were sworn in before her, one of whom was a rapist who cried about why he deserved a chance.
Despite where Black voters stand during this election, it’s safe to say that another layer of bullshit has been applied. Among an angry MAGA-driven Republican Party, we now have a Black woman as the potential face of the Democratic Party to try to not only “earn” the nomination but also to worry about it.