Kamala Harris: has the “glass ceiling” finally been removed?

Raja Sara Petra

Kamala Harris, the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother and Jamaican American father, is America’s first female, first black, and first South Asian Vice President elect since the creation of the United State of America 244 years ago.

That is certainly many firsts in one person, but there is a danger that the focus will on Kamala’s gender and ethnicity rather than on her capabilities. Is she the Vice President because of the fact she is a non-white woman or because of the fact she is qualified for the job?

Women have always faced the limitations and obstacles of a “glass ceiling”. Even when they are allowed to rise up, it is because there is a need to fill a quota. The fact that words such as “allowed” and “quota” are used shows that obstacles are placed in front of women and they can only succeed when doors are not slammed shut.

We certainly welcome the fact that the new American Vice President is not a white male. But we do not wish for it to appear that the only reason she was elected as the Vice President is because of her gender and race. Instead, we wish for it to be a testimony to the fact that a woman is just as good as a man at any job, including at running the most powerful nation on earth.

You may say she is just a Vice President and therefore is not really the Executive of the nation. That may be true, but we must not forget that in the event the President is no longer able to hold office, then the Vice President takes over. Therefore the office of the Vice President is equally important.