Biden taps Kamala Harris as running mate in watershed moment for Asian Americans
The California Senator could become the most powerful AAPI official in American history
By Shawna Chen, Andrew Peng, Andrew Huang, and Cheyenne Cheng
Editor’s Note: Subscribe to The Yappie newsletter, your must-read briefing on Asian American power, politics, and influence (delivered every Monday).
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden has chosen Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) as his vice presidential running mate, a move that represents a watershed moment for the Asian American community.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s long-awaited decision makes Harris the first Asian American to appear on a national ticket and brings her closer to becoming the most powerful AAPI official in history.
Biden pledged to pick a woman as his running mate in March. Advocacy groups pressed him to choose a woman of color amid a national reckoning over race as protests against George Floyd’s murder and police brutality swept the globe.
Harris dropped out of the presidential race last December and endorsed Biden in March. During her campaign, the senator faced protests over her record as a veteran prosecutor and reversed her positions on a number of issues including single-payer health care and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D-Vermont) Medicare For All bill.
Harris has been a frontrunner for the role for months, generating constant buzz in Indian American publications. More than 170 prominent AAPI leaders and organizations urged Biden to choose an Asian American woman as his running mate in a May 22 letter spearheaded by the Asian American Action Fund (AAAFund), a political action committee that supports progressive AAPI candidates.
The document, signed by former AAPI members of Congress, Obama administration appointees, and a slew of state and local elected officials, said that “this decision will help galvanize the AAPI community.”
Asian American and Pacific Islander voters make up a rapidly growing and increasingly influential voting bloc. The number of Asian American voters jumped by 139% from 2000 to 2020, according to Pew Research Center, with naturalized citizens making up the majority of eligible voters. Registered Asian American voters tend to favor the Democratic Party, a 2018 study by APIAVote found.
AAPIs also make up a growing share of activists, candidates, and donors in key battleground states like Texas and Arizona. But advocates say that there has been “relative silence in public discussions about the significance of having two Asian American women under consideration for vice president,” according to NBC News’ Deepa Shivaram.
Shattering barriers
Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants and one of the most prominent South Asians in American politics, has accumulated a long list of firsts throughout her years in public service.
Following two terms as the district attorney in San Francisco, Harris was elected California attorney general. She was the first woman, first Asian American, and first African American to serve as the state’s top law enforcement official.
Harris continued her streak on the federal level, becoming the first Indian American ever elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016. She currently serves alongside two other Asian American lawmakers — Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) — and is a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
With both state and national experience, Harris was one of the most qualified candidates on Biden’s shortlist — serving as a formidable primary rival, high-profile endorser, and reliable surrogate for his campaign.
Speculation that Harris might be Biden’s choice intensified late last month after the Associated Press captured images of Biden’s notes with Harris’ name scrawled above a set of talking points.
“Harris knows the Black American experience,” Neil Makhija, executive director of the Indian American Impact Fund, wrote in a CNN op-ed on Aug. 3. “She knows the South Asian American experience. She knows the immigrant experience. She knows the aspirational power of the American dream. She is the running mate for this moment.”
AAPI issues on the campaign trail
As a top contender for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 election cycle, Harris was one of the only presidential hopefuls to roll out a detailed plan catering to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Among her proposals for the AAPI community, Harris called for executive action to protect DACA recipients, the dismantling of language barriers, the revision of federal data collection to include ethnicity, and the creation of a $12 billion capital grant and technical support program to assist AAPI small businesses.
Harris also sought to highlight NHPI issues during her primary campaign, albeit briefly. In a November 2019 document reviewed by The Yappie, the California senator wrote that “federal policies and programs must carefully consider the unique circumstances of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders,” and that federal agencies should develop action plans “to advance civil rights and educational and health equity” for NHPI communities.
Anti-Asian hate
Harris has become increasingly vocal as hate incidents and violence targeting Asian Americans continue to surge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AAPI advocacy groups and researchers have received more than 2,400 individual reports of coronavirus-related harassment and discrimination since late February, with incidents ranging from verbal harassment to vandalism to physical assault.
The FBI warned of a potential surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in a March intelligence report, which cited the stabbing of a Hmong American family in Midland, Texas. Ugliness reared its head last month when an 89-year-old Chinese American woman was slapped in the face and had her shirt set on fire in New York City.
In May, Harris introduced a Senate resolution that condemned “all forms of Anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19” and slammed President Trump’s use of racist rhetoric on the campaign trail, warning in an Asian Journal op-ed that terms such as the “Chinese virus” have “recklessly put members of the AAPI community at risk.”
Harris also denounced the rise in anti-Asian violence at the AAPI Victory Fund’s AAPI Progressive Summit and on the Los Angeles Times’ Asian Enough podcast.
“Hate crime is not new […] What is tragic is that it’s not ending,” Harris told hosts Frank Shyong and Jen Yamato. “There needs to be serious investigation of these cases, meaning that when someone reports it, they must be taken seriously, they must be given dignity through the process.”
What’s next
Harris is scheduled to address party activists at the entirely virtual Democratic National Convention next Thursday, the DNCC tells The Yappie.
Meanwhile, speculation has already begun on who California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) might appoint to fill Harris’ U.S. Senate seat in the event that Democrats win the White House. Prominent AAPI figures like Rep. Ro Khanna, state Controller Betty Yee, and state Treasurer Fiona Ma are potential options.
Support our work:
The Yappie is your must-read briefing on Asian American power, politics, and influence. Make a donation, subscribe and follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@theyappie). Send tips, ideas, events, job/internship postings, and projects to editors@theyappie.com.
