On Tuesday, 11 August, Kamala Harris was chosen to be presumptive Democratic Candidate Joe Biden's running mate and vice president candidate. This makes Harris the first Black woman and the first Indian-American on a major party presidential ticket in the United States.
Along with some ecstatic voices on social media celebrating the Biden-Harris 2020 ticket were voices of dissent among the Black and Brown 'progressive democratic' community.
'Soft on Police' Reputation
Amidst the largest 'Black Lives Matter' protest movement in American history against racial policing, some attacked Harris' self-proclaimed role as California's as 'top cop' during her stint as the state's attorney general from 2011 to 2017.
Some of the most serious charges against her from this time are that she “fought hard to keep innocents in prison and failed to fight hard against corrupt cops,” reports say.
It has been alleged that during her time as Orange County and San Francisco district attorney, Harris turned a blind eye to 'dirty cops'.
During her tenure, there was the infamous 'snitch scandal' within law enforcement, which reportedly revealed deputies and prosecutors misusing jailhouse informants to extract confessions.
Harris is alleged to have completely abandoned her office's investigation into the scandal when she became senator in 2017.
'We are Brahmins, that is the top caste', said Harris' mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris
South Asian Americans, too, came out in criticism of Harris on social media, citing her upper-caste Brahmin Hindu ancestry.
In a 2003 interview, Shayamala Gopalan, Harris' mother was quoted saying "In Indian society we go by birth. We are Brahmins, that is the top caste. Please do not confuse this with class, which is only about money. For Brahmins, the bloodline is the most important. My family, named Gopalan, goes back more than 1,000 years.”
"Representation is what people settle for when they've given up on transformation. Representation is a sop to those turned away from the table of justice," tweeted South Asian American author Shailja Patel. "We have to demand more. We have to believe we deserve more."
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)