Kamala Harris said the Democrats will work to fulfill the promise of equal justice under law.
Washington:
Kamala Harris, who was nominated as Democratic party candidate for vice-presidential election, invoked the names of African-Americans who died for the US, saying “there is no vaccine for racism”.
Harris said the Democrats will work to fulfill the promise of equal justice under law, CNN reported.
“There is no vaccine for racism. We have got to do the work,” she said.
“For George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor, for the lives of too many others to name, for our children and for all of us. We have got to do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law. Because here is the thing. None of us are free until all of us are free,” Harris said in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Harris mentioned several female civil rights and political leaders like Mary Church Terrell, Mary Mcleod Bethune, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diane Nash, Constance Baker Motley and Shirley Chisholm. “We are not often taught their stories. But as Americans, we all stand on their shoulders,” she said.
She added, “Without fanfare or recognition, they organised, testified, rallied, marched and fought — not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table. These women and the generations that followed worked to make democracy and opportunity real in the lives of all of us who followed. They paved the way for the trailblazing leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”
Harris turned emotional and recalled her late mother Shyamala Gopalan, saying she was not there to see her daughter’s achievemen.
“My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she is looking down on me from above,” she said.
Harris said she often thinks what her mother must have thought when she gave first birth at the age of 25 years at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California, according to CNN.
“On that day, she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words — I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America,” she said.
Harris’ mother passed away due to cancer in 2009.
