Thumbs up: Nomination signals a turning point in history
By Toni Van Pelt
The nomination of Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate for vice president is more than a political landmark. As the first Black and Asian woman to be nominated by a major party as a national candidate, she has made history. But she has also affirmed something that women have long known as a source of strength and inspiration. We are not alone. We are never alone.
Harris has often spoken of the late Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress who, in 1972, became the first Black major-party candidate to run for president.
"I stand, as so many of us do, on her shoulders," Harris told The Grio. "Because she understood that you just march to that podium, and you claim that podium as yours, you don't ask anybody permission.
"And she was supported in that venture, and that's really important to know and to hold on to. When each of us takes that step that requires courage, there will be a community there to support us, to receive us, and to applaud us when we make that step.
"I try to remind people, don't let anyone convince you that you are alone. You come with people, and there is a community of people that will always be in that room with you, even if you are the only one like you in that room at that moment. So never feel small or alone in a way that would make you feel marginalized - never."
Those of us who have been working for women's rights as long as Harris - or Chisholm, who was one of the original founders of the National Organization for Women and who received NOW's first presidential endorsement - have never wavered from our commitment to lift each other up, push our cause forward and stand together against the most powerful and entrenched opposition.
We know that we are never alone - and we've proved it time and again.
The day after Donald Trump was inaugurated, we made history with a massive Women's March on Washington, and scores of other demonstrations around the country and around the world. In 2018, the biggest turnout of women voters ever elected the most feminist Congress in history, and we are poised to shatter that record this November.
Women are excited about Harris not just because she represents a turning point in history but because of what she stands for and what she'll accomplish. She has long advocated for pay transparency in our workplaces so more women have the ability to negotiate their salaries and end pay discrimination, and she is a co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which requires employers to show that pay differences are not due to gender.
Harris has been a fierce advocate of women's access to reproductive health care, and she has made addressing the Black maternal health crisis a personal priority.
During her presidential campaign, she announced a plan to close the nationwide rape kit backlog, and she has pledged to close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" that allows dating partners convicted of domestic violence to buy guns.
And of course, Harris has been one of the sharpest, toughest and most relentless questioners of President Trump's appointees, henchmen and enablers like Brett Kavanaugh and William Barr. She will tear the bark off Trump and Mike Pence.
Harris will energize and motivate the electorate - and not just women. Her energy, optimism and vision stand in contrast to her opponents' cynical politics of division and fear.
This campaign is, as has been often said, about the soul of America - but it's also about its heart. The humanity, compassion and caring that Harris exhibits must prevail against the heartlessness of Trump and the robotic conformity of Pence. That's why women are once again "fired up and ready to go" to cast their votes in November.
If there's one thing that women know with certainty, it is that we are all standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. Harris has acknowledged the women who've influenced and inspired her, and now, future generations will be standing on her shoulders as they fulfill their own dreams and destiny.
And our country will be all the better for.
Toni Van Pelt is the president of the National Organization for Women. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
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Thumbs down: A historic ticket won't win over women, minorities
By Patrice Onwuka
Kamala Harris is the first Black woman and South Asian American named to a presidential ticket. We can recognize and applaud this historic candidacy. But making history alone will not boost enthusiasm for a lackluster Democratic ticket, especially among Blacks. We cannot gloss over the damage that her policy proposals would do to the advancement of minorities and women in America.
Joe Biden followed through on his promise to name a woman to the Democratic ticket and caved to pressure that she be Black. The Democratic Party's hyperfocus on race and gender reeks of tokenism, and minorities and women are not ignorant of this. Even worse, it undermines their accomplishments.
Sen. Harris is an accomplished woman and a modern example of the American dream. The daughter of immigrant parents, she was raised by a single mother but beat many odds. She names several firsts in her career including the first Black and female attorney general of California. She proves that ambition and hard work can help anyone achieve his or her dreams and break down barriers along the way.
However, opportunities for women and minorities to achieve their American dreams would all but disappear if her policy solutions were enacted nationally.
Harris supported her home state's job-killing law that forces most independent contractors to become employees of the companies that contract them despite whether or not companies can afford to do so (or stop working altogether). The law (AB 5) was intended to force Uber and Lyft to reclassify their drivers as employees but has made thousands of other jobs disappear overnight. From translators to event planners, women and men lost contracts and vital income since the start of 2020, even before the pandemic.
Freelance work is more desirable to many workers than traditional 9-5 jobs whether out of preference or necessity for caregiving duties and health reasons. Two million Californians join 57 million American workers (a third of the workforce) as freelancers. Nearly half of independent contractors are women.
Harris supports eliminating these opportunities for Californians and setting AB 5 as the national standard. She co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which does just that. This is a recipe for increased unemployment for decades to come.
Women who prefer a 9-5 job might also find employment more difficult under a Biden-Harris presidency due to their well-intentioned efforts to close the gender pay gap.
The 20-cent pay gap is a misleading metric used to demonstrate gender discrimination. It is based on averages in pay between men and women, but when controlling for job-related choices including occupation, industry, experience, education and hours, the gap shrinks to a few cents.
Legislative efforts to close the gender pay gap have failed for this reason, but Harris and Biden are still advocating for greater control by Washington. They propose that the federal government collect more demographic and pay data from companies and punish those who have pay disparities. Harris would go even further. She assumes that corporations are guilty of pay discrimination and proposes that they certify they have no gender pay gaps or be fined 1% of their profits for every 1% difference in pay.
The result would be less flexibility and fewer jobs for women. Employers would increasingly decline to negotiate nonfinancial forms of compensation such as paid time off with female workers because that could distort salary figures. These efforts would also encourage litigation. As a result, women might be considered less desirable to hire because of increased legal exposure or fear of failing to obtain government certification.
We want more opportunities for women, not less. Equity in the workplace can be achieved through increased opportunity, better education, and greater knowledge of the tradeoffs between different career choices and individual pay.
Finally, women, and minority women, in particular, view entrepreneurship as a path to financial independence. Women started more than 1,800 businesses each day from 2017-2019. Entrepreneurship rates among minority women experienced triple-digit growth during the past few years. Instead of encouraging this entrepreneurial spirit by reducing taxes or working with states to scale back unnecessary work regulations such as occupational licenses, Harris would raise taxes, increase regulations through economy-damaging policies like the Green New Deal, and erode their livelihoods through so-called pro-worker policies.
Minorities and women want better than for their livelihoods and aspirations to be jeopardized by misguided Washington-centric policies. Just as Sen. Harris has achieved her American dream, they want a chance to pursue their own.
Patrice Onwuka is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women's Forum. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
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