Harris will not be a president for marginalised folks – in the US or abroad

She made it wide successful her acceptance code astatine the Democratic National Convention successful August, again astatine her televised statement with Donald Trump a fewer weeks later, and successful each her interviews since. Vice President Kamala Harris, if oregon erstwhile elected the 47th United States president, volition proceed the centre-right policies of her caller predecessors, particularly her existent boss, President Joe Biden.

This apt means that efforts to code income equality and poverty, to wantonness policies that beget unit overseas, and to face the latticework of favoritism that affects Americans of colour and Black women especially, volition beryllium constricted astatine best.

If Harris wins this election, her being a Black and South Asian pistillate successful the astir almighty bureau successful the world will not mean much to marginalised radical anywhere, due to the fact that she volition wield that powerfulness successful the aforesaid racist, sexist and Islamophobic ways arsenic erstwhile presidents.

“I’m not the president of Black America. I’m the president of the United States of America,” President Barack Obama had said connected respective occasions during his presidency erstwhile asked astir doing much for Black Americans portion successful office. As a statesmanlike candidate, Kamala Harris is fundamentally doing the same. And arsenic it was the lawsuit with Obama’s presidency, this is not bully quality for Black Americans, oregon immoderate different marginalised community.

Take the contented of housing.

Harris’s projected $25,000 assistance to assistance Americans bargain homes for the archetypal clip is simply a broad grant, 1 that successful a lodging marketplace historically tilted towards achromatic Americans, volition invariably discriminate against Black folks and different radical of colour. Harris’s run committedness does not adjacent discern betwixt “first-time buyers” whose parents and siblings already ain homes, and existent “first-generation” buyers who are much apt not white, and bash not person immoderate generational wealth.

It seems Harris wants to look committed to helping “all Americans”, adjacent if it means her policies would chiefly assistance (mostly white) Americans already surviving middle-class lives. Any existent accidental for those among the moving people and the moving mediocre to person entree to the 3 cardinal homes Harris has promised is betwixt slim and none.

Harris’s pledges astir reproductive rights are arsenic non-specific and frankincense little than reassuring to those who already look favoritism and erasure.

She says, if elected president, she would “codify Roe v Wade”. Every Democratic president since Jimmy Carter has made specified a committedness and yet failed to support it. Even if Congress were to walk specified a law, the acold close would situation this instrumentality successful court. Even if the national courts decided to upload specified a law, the Supreme Court decisions that followed betwixt 1973 and 2022 gave states the close to restrict termination based connected fetus viability, meaning that astir restrictions already successful spot successful galore states would remain. And with half the states successful the US either banning termination wholly oregon severely restricting it, codification of Roe – if it ever really materialises –  would astatine champion reset the US to the precarity astir reproductive rights that has existed since 1973.

Even if Harris miraculously manages to support her promise, American women of colour, and women surviving successful poverty, volition inactive person little entree to contraceptives, to abortions, and to prenatal and neonatal care, due to the fact that each Roe ever did was to marque specified attraction “legal”. The instrumentality ne'er made it affordable, and surely ne'er made it truthful that each women had adjacent entree to services successful each authorities successful the union.

Given that she is poised to go America’s archetypal woman/woman of colour/Black pistillate president, Harris’s vague and wide-net promises connected reproductive rights, which would bash small to assistance immoderate women, but particularly marginalised women, are damning. Sure, it is bully that Harris talks astir Black girls and women similar the late Amber Nicole Thurman who person been denied reproductive rights successful states similar Georgia, with deadly results. But her words mean thing without a wide enactment plan.

Where Harris failed the astir of all, however, is tackling unit – overwhelmingly targeting marginalised, sidelined, silenced and criminalised folks – successful the US and overseas.

During a unrecorded and televised interrogation with billionaire Oprah Winfrey successful September, Harris expanded connected the revelation she made during her earlier statement with Trump that she is simply a weapon owner. “If idiosyncratic breaks into my location they’re getting shot,” Harris said with a smile. “I astir apt should not person said that,” she swiftly added. “My unit volition woody with that later.”

The vice president seemed assured that her remark would yet beryllium seen by pro-gun power democrats arsenic a indispensable effort astatine grabbing the attraction of gun-owning, centre-right voters, who could inactive beryllium dissuaded from voting for Trump. Nonetheless, her casual connection astir the usage of lethal unit revealed overmuch much than her tendency to unafraid the votes of “sensible”, old-school close wingers. It illuminated the blitheness with which Harris takes the contented of the US arsenic a convulsive federation and culture.

It is hard to judge Harris arsenic president would beryllium an advocator for “common sense” measures seeking “assault weapons bans, cosmopolitan inheritance checks, reddish emblem laws” erstwhile she talks truthful casually astir shooting people.

Her determination to dainty weapon unit arsenic yet different contented for calculated politicking is alarming, particularly when Black folk – including Black women – look decease by guns astatine disproportionate rates, peculiarly astatine the hands of constabulary officers and achromatic vigilantes. Despite Trump’s disgusting claims, Harris is simply a Black woman. Many Americans assume she would bash much to support them than different presidents. However, her dismissive cognition towards weapon unit shows that President Harris – careless of her radical inheritance – would not connection immoderate much information and information to marginalised communities, including Black women, than her predecessors.

The presumption that arsenic a part-Black, part-South Asian president, Harris would curtail American unit that maims and kills Black, brownish and Asian bodies each implicit the satellite besides appears to beryllium baseless.

In repeatedly saying that she “will guarantee America ever has the strongest, astir lethal warring unit successful the world”, Harris has made wide that she has each volition to proceed with the lethal, racist, imperialistic policies of her Democratic and Republican predecessors, without reflection, recalibration oregon an ounce of remorse.

Just look astatine the carnage successful Gaza she has overseen as vice president.

Despite saying aggregate times that she and Biden “have been moving astir the clock” for a ceasefire successful Gaza, the information is that Biden and Harris person not secured a ceasefire simply due to the fact that they bash not privation one. Harris arsenic president volition beryllium conscionable arsenic good with Black, brown, and Asian lives not mattering successful the calculations of her aboriginal administration’s overseas policy, arsenic she has been arsenic vice president and US senator.

Anybody voting for Harris successful this predetermination – including yours genuinely – should beryllium honorable astir why. Sure, determination is excitement astir having a pistillate – a biracial, Black and South Asian pistillate astatine that – arsenic American president for the archetypal clip successful history. This excitement, combined with her committedness of “we’re not going back” successful notation to Trump’s presidency, and galore pledges to support what’s near of US democracy,  supply galore Americans with capable crushed to enactment the Harris-Walz ticket. Yet, immoderate look to beryllium supporting Kamala Harris nether the content that arsenic a Black and South Asian woman, she would worth the lives of radical who look similar her, and erstwhile elected, enactment marginalised radical overmuch amended than her predecessors.

This is simply a delusion.

Just similar Obama erstwhile did, Harris wants to beryllium president of the United States of America. She has nary volition of being the President of “Black America” oregon the marginalised. She made this clear, implicit and again, passim her campaign, and done her enactment arsenic vice president to Joe Biden.

There is simply a agelong database of reasons to ballot for Harris successful this election, but the presumption that her presidency would beryllium supportive of the rights and struggles of the marginalised, simply due to the fact that of her identity, should not beryllium connected that list.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.