Kamala Harris could help heal broken America after shattering glass ceiling

As millions of Americans woke with sore heads after celebrating Donald Trump ’s election defeat, the important work of healing the divided nation had already begun.

At the core of this project is Kamala Harris, whose triumph as Vice President-elect of the US has shattered glass ­ceilings for women around the world.

When she takes the oath of office on January 20 alongside new US leader Joe Biden, she will bring three firsts to her new role.

Not only will she be America’s first female VP, but the first South Asian-American and the first black person second in line for the most powerful office in the world.

The former prosecutor, daughter of Jamaican-born father Donald Harris and Indian-born mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, will act as a bridge-builder in America’s quest to end racism.

Biden will now look to the California senator as not only a healer, but a unifier too.

Hours after Biden’s win over Trump was confirmed on Saturday, Harris recognised the long struggle women had faced to earn recognition in US politics.

Before introducing President-elect Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, she said: “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.

"And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way.”

Paying tribute to her mother, she added: “I’m grateful to the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

"When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.”

If nothing else, Trump’s 70 million votes in the election have shown the Democrats just how lost they have become as a party.

In crucial areas, they have wasted the support of large ethnic minorities who no longer feel they fight for them.

Harris is seen as a liberal, one who could breach the divide between traditional members of the party and its increasing hard-left representatives.

The diversity of a younger political generation has led to the election of the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib – collectively known as The Squad.

Their advocacy of progressive policies such as the Green New Deal has sometimes clashed with their party’s older leadership.

Though her own run for the White House failed last year, Harris, 56, has been embraced by Democrats who see in her a reflection of themselves.

Activist Sonia Sanchez said: “To see the joy of what is happening in this important moment in American history, with African-American, Indian, Asian, Latino women coming together and seeing it in one woman, we understand that her election will not only benefit all women, but her perspective of being able to look at the world through a lens of colour will bring inclusion and opportunity.”

Biden is expected to assign a significant portfolio to Harris, providing her with the opportunity to shape policy that may then become the foundations for her own run at the White House.

He is set to rely on his VP to chart out a new path for criminal justice reform that not only Democrats but possibly Republicans around the country can support.

Many experts believe Harris’s experience with criminal justice, from the perspective of a black and Asian woman, will help create a more equal American legal system.

It will help undo many of Trump’s racially charged immigration policies, which led to outrage as infants were put in cages as they fought for asylum.

As for policies, she is likely to tackle pay equity and other issues women have been fighting for since the 1970s. She will also likely chair the coronavirus task force, following in the footsteps of her predecessor Mike Pence. With America approaching 10 million coronavirus infections since the outbreak, and 238,000 deaths, it will be her most immediate task.

Of equal importance is the role she could play abroad.

Most observers assume Biden will effectively be his own Secretary of State, given his extensive knowledge on foreign policy coupled with relationships built around the world.

But Harris brings a fresh approach to global issues. Much like Biden when he was Barack Obama’s VP, she could set up her own foreign-policy team to work in tandem with her boss’s aides on such issues as trade and the environment.

America has much work to do abroad after the past four years. The US needs to forge a very different global role than it has since 2016, going back to leading the way on the climate and world peace.

Biden has every confidence he chose the very best deputy he could.

When he announced her as his running mate, he said: “Her record of accomplishment – fighting tooth and nail for what’s right – is why I’m choosing her. There is no door Kamala won’t knock on, no stone she’ll leave unturned, if it means making life better for the people.”

Harris was the fourth woman to appear on a major political party’s presidential ticket, following vice presidential nominees Geraldine Ferraro for the Democrats in 1984 and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008, and Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But Harris is the first to win.

Her election is a clear signal that it is a matter of when, not if, the leader of the free world will be a woman.