Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden selecting Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) to be his running mate signals that Black women “have arrived.”
Waters said, “I am overjoyed. I feel that this historic moment is one that I will savor for many, many years to come. To tell you the truth, I witnessed the first woman who was selected to be vice president Geraldine Ferraro when I was in the women’s movement. At that time, we couldn’t even envision an African-American woman being chosen to be the vice president. And here we are today with this historic moment where Kamala Harris has been chosen. I am over, overjoyed by this decision.”
She continued, “I think it’s a great decision. I think she’ll be so good running with Biden. I think that they will make a good team. But what’s important about this moment in history is this. ”
She added, “You can see that change is taking place. All of those protests that we had was not simply about George Floyd and the fact that he had been killed because a police officer had held him down with his knee and take on his breath away. It was about inequality. It was about getting rid of racism. It was about changing America and getting rid of the traditions that have divided us for so long. It was about how are we going to have equality, how we are going to have the ability for the black community and the Latino community and communities of color to really start to build wealth and get rid of some of the public policy that has dominated our society for so long. So I feel it. I feel it very deeply. I am very proud. You’re right. I knew it was going to be Kamala because her credentials were such that they were unmatched by any of the other wonderful women. We had all kinds of great accomplishments in their careers, but her combination of success and accomplishments was such that she was at the point where you could not help but know that she was ready for all of this. So, again, I’m delighted, I’m happy, and this comes at a moment when we need some joy.”
She concluded, “I think one of the things we must realize is that Black women have arrived. Black women are now extraordinarily influential in the block party. Black women have demonstrated they are loyal to the Democratic Party, and they have shown that not only will they vote, but they will get out the vote. They will fight for the vote. And so having done that, with this influence that we have, we have come a long way, and we are recognized as important and essential to progressive politics in general, to the politics that will be about, you know, creating equality and justice for our families and for our children and bringing people together and arriving to the point where we are all feeling very strongly about fighting against racism and inequality. So this is the moment of change in America.”
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