INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Mechell Harris landed here for the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta\u2019s biennial convention thrilled that Democrats had quickly coalesced around Vice President Harris as the party\u2019s likely nominee for president.<\/p>\n
Harris, an entrepreneur from Charlotte in her 50s who is Black, thought of her mother, who might live to see a barrier-breaking moment she felt would herald a \u201cshift in the way America is thinking\u201d \u2014 a Black and Indian American woman elected to the highest office.<\/p>\n
But does she think Harris will win? She paused and sighed deeply. That was a tougher question.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope she wins,\u201d she said, with some hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is people think the way they think,\u201d she added as she finished her lunch Tuesday inside the Indiana Convention Center. \u201cI would like to believe it. She has a big chance if you\u2019re not discounting her as a woman and a minority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some 6,000 Black women from across the country have gathered here to celebrate at the Grand Boul\u00e9 \u2014 where Vice President Harris is set to speak on Wednesday just three days after President Biden announced he was withdrawing from the presidential race and supporting Harris as his successor. Much of the Democratic Party quickly joined him in backing Harris, prompting relief and even jubilation among many Democrats.<\/p>\n
It has also stirred some nervousness, interviews with more than a dozen Black women at the convention showed. Although some confidently said they think Harris will beat former president Donald Trump, citing her relative youth and credentials as a former San Francisco prosecutor, California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president, others were less assured. Some confessed they don\u2019t think she can win \u2014 not because she isn\u2019t qualified, but because of sexism and racism in America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe White guy would\u2019ve won against another White guy,\u201d said Lora Rice, 55, an operating room nurse from Georgia. \u201cI don\u2019t think she\u2019s going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rice\u2019s friend Stephanie Stephens-Lanham, 54, nodded in agreement. \u201cKamala is going to have a hard time,\u201d she said, sporting a T-shirt with Zeta Phi Beta\u2019s Greek letters in the sorority\u2019s royal blue and white colors. \u201cI\u2019m just being honest. She\u2019s a woman and she\u2019s Black. So she\u2019s not going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had your eyes closed and you just go based on her qualifications versus [Trump\u2019s] qualifications, yes, she\u2019d definitely win,\u201d Rice added. \u201cBut they\u2019re not going to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019s critics have a history of lobbing personal and sometimes racist and sexist attacks on her. Trump has called her \u201cnasty\u201d and he and other Republicans have often mispronounced her first name.<\/p>\n
Both Rice and Stephens-Lanham said they felt Biden had a much better chance of beating Trump, even as polls showed him trailing in key battlegrounds. Rice groaned as she talked about Biden, saying, \u201cHe could\u2019ve stayed afloat long enough to get in and then step out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephens-Lanham, a clinical laboratory scientist, disagreed with Rice. It was disheartening and sad to see him drop out, she said, but it needed to happen. He was too old to run and everyone knew it, she added.<\/p>\n
Not so, Rice retorted: \u201cWhen Biden stepped down, he gave it straight to Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now it\u2019s on her. Black people always take the trash part, always take the blame,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Still, both women vowed to work hard to try to turn out voters for Harris \u2014 a position that some women across the convention center echoed. Even those who weren\u2019t sure Harris could win marveled at the idea of a fellow member of the Divine Nine, the group of historically Black sororities and fraternities, rising to the presidency.<\/p>\n
In 2020, exit polls showed 90 percent of Black women voted for Biden, by far the highest of any one group of voters. In this year\u2019s race, they are expected to once again play a pivotal role in key swing states that could decide the winner.<\/p>\n
Harris, who graduated in 1986 from Howard University, where she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, has participated in several Divine Nine events since taking office. Earlier this month, she spoke at the AKA convention, urging her sorority sisters to back the Biden-Harris ticket.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Harris is expected to tout the achievements of the Biden-Harris administration. The White House coordinated the remarks weeks ago, and it is not a campaign appearance.<\/p>\n
But most everywhere Harris goes these days, the election is on the minds of many people. Longtime friends Brenda Butler, 69, and Mercedes Alexander, 74, both from Little Rock, couldn\u2019t recall a moment they had felt more energized about the election.<\/p>\n
Alexander said she donated to Harris\u2019s effort twice on Sunday \u2014 once with her credit card, and once with her husband\u2019s. He didn\u2019t know, she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Over pulled-pork sandwiches from a convention center kiosk, they offered different perspectives on what will come next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a breath of fresh air. I feel more secure now,\u201d Alexander said of Biden\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
Butler, a retired educator, had more reservations. \u201cI kind of wanted him to stay in because I don\u2019t do well with a lot of change. But I see why he did it for the good of the group,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that he put it in good hands,\u201d Alexander interjected.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s smart. She\u2019s very qualified to be president and she\u2019s forceful. She gets her message out. And she\u2019s Greek!\u201d Alexander said, nodding to Harris being an AKA.<\/p>\n
Arleace Carrion, 64, and Barbara Gardner, 68, had beaming smiles on their faces and kept talking over each other as they expressed how ecstatic they were to see Harris become the likely Democratic nominee.<\/p>\n
Carrion couldn\u2019t remember the last time she had used Facebook but on Sunday night she immediately got back on and has been posting nonstop in support of Harris.<\/p>\n
One post included a photo of women from different sororities in the Divine Nine. Her caption read: \u201cLet\u2019s do it I am strolling with her.\u201d She reshared another post from a Black Women for Kamala account that said: \u201cLet\u2019s stroll to the polls, D9 Sistahs !!!\u201d And as she scrolled on her news feed, it was clear several of her Facebook friends felt similarly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that we\u2019re voting for her because she\u2019s\u201d Black, said Carrion, a retired clinical trial coordinator who lives in Miami. \u201cWe\u2019re voting for her because she\u2019s qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd because of what she stands for,\u201d added Gardner, a retired educator from Miami who sported a pearl necklace with Zeta\u2019s Greek letters on it. \u201cShe\u2019s fighting for all people. Not just Blacks, all people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if she was worried about Harris\u2019s prospects, Gardner immediately shooed away the question. \u201cDon\u2019t put that negativity out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in God\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Mechell Harris landed here for the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta\u2019s biennial convention thrilled that Democrats had quickly coalesced around Vice President Harris as the party\u2019s likely nominee for president. Harris, an entrepreneur from Charlotte in her 50s who is Black, thought of her mother, who might live to see a barrier-breaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}