Dahlia Walker-Huntington | ‘Mr Vice-President, I’m speaking’

Once again Senator Kamala Harris made history. Last Wednesday night, she became the first black woman, the first Asian-American woman and the first Jamaican-American woman to take the debate stage for the vice-presidency of the United States of America. It was a huge moment. The weight of her gender, her race and her immigrant background were on her shoulders.

There was an unreasonable expectation on her to do well because of her background as a prosecutor, her memorable Senate Judiciary committee hearings, her race and her gender. What she knew and what black professional women in America knew was that she had to tread a thin line between being competent and forceful, and not being labelled as the ‘angry black woman’. Yes, that is a thing. She knew going in that she had to restrain herself and that likely Mike Pence would resort to mansplaining.

Vice-President Mike Pence was different than Donald Trump in his debate performance, but he was nonetheless condescending and showed utter disregard for the rules. For anyone who argues for a living, you know that if your opponent keeps getting away with not playing by the rules, you have no choice but to respond in kind – but for black women that’s a conundrum.

Repeated interruptions

Pence repeatedly interrupted Harris and even after the now infamous, “Mr Vice-President, I am speaking” line, kept right on talking over her. Not sure how the moderator saw her role, but it did not appear to have been to keep the parties in line to the time allotted or to answering the questions she posed. Once in 90 minutes the moderator ‘allowed’ Senator Harris 30 seconds to rebut Pence, but then proceeded to cut Harris off.

So many women took to social media to identify with Senator Harris and, for many of us, Pence’s behaviour was triggering. Almost to a person as women, and particularly women of colour, we have had a white man speak over us and down to us – even when they have been wrong or were lying. In that split moment we had to gather our thoughts to address the point we were making before being rudely interrupted and not become angry in response – because if we do, the ‘angry black woman’ title is assigned.

Harris was asked the first question, and from that moment, Pence shook his head in disagreement and made several facial expressions to show disapproval of whatever Harris had to say. In response, Harris did the same. Many of us react through our facial expressions all the time. But the morning after the debate saw several white women lambasting Senator Harris for her facial expressions – most notably former Fox and NBC news anchor Megan Kelly – who tweeted that Kamala “should take it like a woman” and get rid of the facial expressions. Instantly, photos of Kelly with numerous facial expressions surfaced. In one private Facebook female lawyers’ group, a major discussion erupted after a white woman who admitted to have responded with facial expressions herself in the past, found Senator Harris’ unprofessional and childish – but did not comment on Mike Pence’s expressions.

Classic Misogynoir

This, ladies and gentlemen, is classic misogynoir – the intersection of misogyny and racism, doctored up with a little microaggression thrown in on the side. I am white and I do it, but I don’t like it that you a black woman did it to a white man who also did it.

The white female moderator, who you thought would have stopped Pence’s constant interruptions, refusal to abide by time limits and constantly answering a different question that he was asked, failed to hold him accountable with the power and privilege she had as the moderator. This also sparked widespread discussion online because it was regarded as the failure of some white women to be allies with black women in the struggle for equality. There are times when a debate is much more than just a debate on issues.

It was a difficult road for Senator Harris to navigate on Wednesday night to establish herself on the national stage – to show America that she has a command of all the issues, that she has the ability to lead the country at a moment’s notice, and that she has a plan along with Joe Biden to move America out of the morass that the county finds itself in after four years of the Trump/Pence administration. But she also had the added tasks of filtering her responses so as not to offend and of overperforming. Senator Harris exceeded expectations and showed America that she deserves the position as the Vice-President of the United States of America.

- Dahlia Walker-Huntington is a Jamaican-American attorney who practices Immigration Law in the United States; and Family, Criminal & International law in Florida. She is a Mediator and Former Special Magistrate and Hearing Officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com