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If President Joe Biden owed Black women anything following the infamous Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas debacle 33 years ago, I think it's fair to say he has paid his debt in full. Thanks to Biden, there is a strong chance that a woman of color will ascend to the U.S. presidency this fall.
When Biden recently bowed out of the presidential race and threw his full support to Vice President Kamala Harris, he did more than demonstrate his confidence in his VP; he threw down the gauntlet on America's racial and gender divide. He has dared America to live up to its creed. And he has proven, once again, his respect and appreciation for accomplished women of color, and his willingness to position them in power.
Although 90 percent of African American women voters chose Biden in 2020, there had been a lingering hint of bitterness over how he failed to protect Professor Anita Hill during the brutal 1991Senate confirmation hearings of now Supreme Court Justice Thomas.
The hearings were rife with misogynistic and racial overtones. Biden was criticized for not doing enough to shield Hill from the 14 all-male, all-white committee members who belligerently sought to discredit her, and for not calling additional witnesses who could have supported Hill's testimony.
I was one of those witnesses who was prepared to testify, and the only reason that I didn't testify was because I was not called. I would love it if Biden would walk back that false narrative that I and the other witnesses did not testify because we backed out at the last minute. But that's ancient history, and I'm more concerned about history in the making right now.
Biden made a historic decision when he chose Harris as his running mate in 2020. Although she was the third woman to serve as a vice presidential candidate for a major political party, she was the first woman of color, being of Jamaican and South Asian descent.
Then, Biden tapped Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman to serve as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. He followed that up by choosing Karine Jean-Pierre as the first Black and openly LGBTQ person to serve as White House press secretary.
He picked Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the first Black woman to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Cecilia Rouse as the first Black person to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. He also named other Black "firsts"—Lloyd Austin as the first Black Defense secretary and Michael Regan as the first Black man to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
With all of these appointments, Biden has confirmed his commitment to Black progress. By positioning Harris to potentially become the first woman and person of color to hold the highest office in this nation, he has underscored his commitment to Democracy and the rights of all Americans, especially women and minorities.
And Black women couldn't be more motivated. More than 44,000 people recently logged onto a Zoom call hosted by the group Win With Black Women and raised more than $1.5 million for the Harris campaign in less than three hours. Black women have always been a key Democratic voting bloc. Now they are galvanized around electing Harris the next president of the United States.
This is not the first time Biden can take credit for mobilizing women. Because of the poor treatment of Hill during the Senate confirmation hearings, the next year a record number of female politicians were elected to office, and 1992 became known as "The Year of the Woman."
Joe Biden has evolved significantly during his long political career, which includes him voting against school busing in the 1970s and voting in favor of a measure to outlaw gay marriage in the '90s.
Undoubtedly, it was a tough decision for him and his advisers to decide to end his candidacy. The consensus among Democrat leadership appears to be that he did the right thing, that he put the country over his ego—something the Republican nominee would probably never do.
Biden's legacy will surely include this selfless act along with all of his legislative and policy accomplishments. But should Harris become the next president of the United States, his greatest legacy will be the representation and validation he provided to every young American girl, especially those of color.
Angela Wright is a freelance journalist living in Charlotte, N.C., and a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She is the "uncalled witness" from the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas Confirmation Hearing.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
