The Presidential Debate was interesting to say the least, with the outcome of it up to the day remaining unclear. As Jon Stewart of The Daily Show put it, “What I think is a home-run answer for one candidate, someone else might see as a dodge, or a lie, or any of those other things. In some ways, it doesn’t matter.” Despite the hopes of what now seems to be a minority, Kamala Harris lost the 2024 Presidential Election to Donald Trump, whose reputation for chaos precedes him.
The excitement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ run for president was palpable. However, it is worth saying that this is not the first time a woman of Afro-Caribbean descent has run for President of the United States.
The first to try was Shirley Chisholm.
Shirley Chisholm was born on November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, NY. In 1946, she graduated from Brooklyn College cum laude. Afterwards, she worked as a nursery school teacher while taking night classes at Columbia University, earning a Master of Arts degree in early childhood education in 1951. Nine years later, she was a consultant to the New York City Division of Daycare (Michals, 2015).
In 1968, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress and represented New York’s 12th congressional district for seven terms (1968-1983). She expanded the food stamp program, took aim at gender and racial inequality, and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is more well known, however, as the first Black candidate to seek a major party nomination for President, which unfortunately was unsuccessful (Nat. Archives). As Chisholm put it, “When I ran for the Congress… When I ran for president, I met more discrimination as a woman than for being black. Men are men (Stein, 2024).”
Her African-American colleagues (majority male) were discontented with the possibility that she would prioritize her womanhood over her being Black (Michals, 2015; Munthali, 2018). Despite this, she enjoyed support from individuals within her rank, such as then-Miami Congresswoman Gwendolyn Cherry who swore that “Chisholm for President organizations were ready to swing into action if [Chisholm] said the word (Munthali, 2018).” However, candidacy is a very expensive venture, and Chisholm’s presidential campaign was grossly underfunded, with the majority of campaign staff operating on a volunteer basis, resulting in a diverse group of “black women, white feminists, Latinos, Puerto Ricans” that often feuded (Munthali, 2018).
In contrast, VP Harris’ campaign has raised over $1 billion dollars and she has garnered support from a myriad of groups such as White Dudes for Harris, and Win with Black Women.
Adding to fundraising challenges, Chisholm was still a member of Congress and as such had to respond to her congressional duties while actively running for presidential office (Munthali, 2018). She was also blocked from the televised primary debates, only appearing in one after suing (Michals, 2015). In these circumstances, it is no wonder that Chisholm didn’t get very far in the race.
Shirley Chisholm’s political run as congresswoman and presidential candidate is a testament to how far one can get in spite of circumstances through sheer skill and determination. It is also a clear example of race and gender impeding progress. Shirley Chisholm’s goals of addressing poverty, racial, and gender inequality (Michals) as a Black woman candidate made her susceptible to the great machinations that decide who holds power in our society, legislative or otherwise.
Unfortunately, Shirley Chisholm is also a great example of how historical figures can be twisted to fit a modern agenda, to champion someone who, beyond fleeting similarity in race and ethnicity, is almost nothing like the former.
Online, there are many videos comparing VP Kamala Harris to Shirley Chisholm. Beyond them both being women of Caribbean descent, they are very different: Chisholm campaigned as being Unbought and Unbossed; that she would not allow herself to be used as a minority figurehead to disguise some partisan or private interest (Lallite, 2024). VP Harris, on the other hand, plays it just as safe (politically speaking) as most of her Democrat colleagues. While that isn’t inherently a bad thing in today’s environment, it is imperative that if she is elected, that her administration doesn’t become a situation where the joy of having a “Black face in a high place” supersedes real and effective change.
Citations:
Stewart, Jon. “Jon Stewart Tackles Harris & Trump’s Debate and What This Means for the Election | The Daily Show.” YouTube, uploaded by The Daily Show, 11 Sept. 2024, Jon Stewart Tackles Harris & Trump’s Debate and What This Means for the Election | The Daily Show
Michals, Debra. “Shirley Chisholm.” National Women’s History Museum. National Women’s History Museum, 2015, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/shirley-chisholm
“Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924-January 1, 2005).” National Archives. 2 Nov. 2023, https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/individuals/shirley-chisholm
Stein, Ellen. “What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in Shirley.” Slate. 23 Mar. 2024, https://slate.com/culture/2024/03/shirley-chisholm-netflix-biopic-true-story.html
Munthali, Towela M. “Pushing the Glass Ceiling: Shirley Chisholm & the Democratic Party.” Women Leading Change. vol. 3, no. 2. Oct 2018. pp. 19-20. Howard-Tilton. https://journals.tulane.edu/ncs/article/view/1334. Accessed 7 Oct 2024.
Lallite, Richard. “Unbought and Unbossed… Shirley Chisholm.” Harlem America. 7 Mar. 2024, https://www.harlemamerica.com/harlemamerica-blog/unbought-and-unbossed-shirley-chisholm/