First Female Vice President in the United States Elected This Year
by Shakailah Heard
Nov. 12, 2020
Joe Biden was elected the president-elect in the 2020 election with running mate Kamala Harris last Saturday, who became the first woman elected in that position.
Biden won with 290 electoral votes against President Trump, by winning Pennsylvania.
Voters, men and women, had different opinions and reactions to a woman becoming the vice president elect and possibly becoming the 46th vice president making history.
“I think her position is very inspiring, not only for women, but for little girls all across the world who finally see somebody in power that looks like them,” Emily Zanieski said, a junior majoring in history and arabic at Georgia Southern University.
Biden handpicked Harris for his running mate in August after clothing in previous debates when she was running for president. Harris is Black and Indian, and is the daughter of immigrants.
“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities,” Harris said.
“Kamala allowed women like me, pursuing an engineering degree as a Black woman, to ensure that my concerns and voice will be heard,” Mykalah Woodson, an engineering student at Georgia Southern.
Woodson said women have to always work much harder than male coworkers and that women usually go into the work field knowing that they will be underpaid and have to settle for an opportunity.
According to a research done by the American Society for Engineering Education, in 2017 the percentage of bachelor degrees received by males were 78.7% and 21.3% for women.
“We were overdue for a female vice president, republican or democrat or independent,” Chris Lawson, a government employee said, “I don’t have any adverse feelings towards having a female as vice president, I think females make great leaders.”
According to The Washington Post, Harris’s victory came 55 years after the Voting Rights Act and 36 years after the first woman ran on a presidential ticket and four years after Hillary Clinton lost to Trump.
“I think finally being able to see a woman and such like a strong, independent woman in power and holding such a high position is very inspiring for women overall and is only going to encourage more women to run for office and to hold positions of power, which I think is something that we need as a country,” Zanieski said.
From African Americans not being allowed to vote, to having a Black Vice President is a history in the making in America.
“I am excited to see the changes she will implement as she will be a voice for all women who voices are typically not heard,” Woodson said.