In a stirring acceptance speech, California Senator Kamala Harris set out her vision for her term as Vice President as the first woman of color to be nominated for the position, while pointing out the obvious unwillingness and inability of the Trump administration to honestly and competently handle the challenges facing America.
Echoing many of the same themes of the previous days at the convention, Harris framed this election as a fight for the vision and future of the United States to defeat the direction of division and self-interest introduced by Trumpism and the Trump presidency.
“In this election,” Harris said, “we have a chance to change the course of history. We’re all in this fight–you, me and Joe–together. What an awesome responsibility. What an awesome privilege. So let’s fight with conviction. Let’s fight with hope. Let’s fight with confidence in ourselves and a commitment to each other, to the America we know is possible. The America we love.”
Honoring generations before her who believed in promise of liberty, equality and justice for all, Harris noted that thousands of people fought and sacrificed to allow her to rise to this opportunity.
Recalling how her parents met during a civil rights march, Harris said, “I got a stoller’s-eye view of people getting into what the late John Lewis called ‘good trouble’.”
She called out her family, both her relatives and her adopted families from Alpha Kappa Alpha and HBCUs. She highlighted how her mother taught her that “service to others gives life purpose and meaning” in her time as a prosecutor fighting for crime victims.
After formally accepting the nomination for Vice President of the United States, Harris said she is committed to the “word that taught her to walk by faith and not by sight.”
“And,” she continued, “to a vision passed on by generations of Americans, one that Joe Biden shares, a vision of our nation as a beloved community, where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, no matter where we come from, or who we love. A country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity and respect.”
Echoing the words of First Lady Michelle Obama, Harris noted that this is not something that can be done without empathy for others.
Harris called out Donald Trump’s “failure of leadership that has cost lives and livelihoods” as the US became a grieving nation, lamenting the loss of live and opportunities due to the coronavirus and the failed administration response.
She noted out how hard life in today’s America is with the loss of normalcy and certainty, particularly in communities of Black, Latino and indigenous people where social and economic opportunities have been stifled over generations.
“Let’s be clear: there is no vaccine for racism,” Harris said sternly. “We’ve got to do the work.”
“We’ve got to do that work to fulfill that promise for equal justice under the law,” she stated. “Because here’s the thing: none of us are free until all of us are free.”
Saying that we’re an inflection point because the constant chaos and incompetence of the Trump Administration is isolating people, Harris repeated a theme that’s sprung throughout the Democratic Convention: that Trump is incapable and unwilling to do the work of the American people.
“We must elect a president who will do something different, something better, and do the important work A president who will bring all of us together… to achieve the future we collectively want,” Harris declared. “We must elect Joe Biden.”
Touting Biden’s experience and leadership in his terms as Senator and Vice President, Harris said Biden spent decades “promoting American values and interests around the world.
“Joe, he believes we stand with our allies and stand up to our adversaries,” Harris stated. “Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons. Joe will be a president who turns our tragedies into purpose.”
Harris said that “Joe will bring us together” to address racial and economic injustice, saying that’s the vision that “makes the American promise, with all its complexities and imperfections, a promise worth fighting for.”
“I pledge to you that we will act boldly, and deal with our challenges honestly,” Harris said, hinting at Trump’s reputation for dishonesty in dealing the public. “We will speak truths and we will act with the same faith in you that we ask you to place with us.”