SINCE 1968 , 10 BLACK WOMEN , INCLUDING KAMALA HARRIS , HAVE RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES .
HOW MUCH HAS THE “ IMAGINATION GAP ” CLOSED ?
By COURTLAND MILLOY
Black women who have run for president of the United States – and there have been more than just a few – have faced a deep and unrelenting perception that they are not electable because of their race and sex .
It is this misogynistic racism that Kamala Harris must overcome , when voters go to the polls next month , to become this nation ’ s first “ Madam President .” But if history is any indication , that won ’ t be easy .
Last year , Jennifer McClellan , who won a special election in Virginia to become the first Black woman sent to Congress from the seat of the Confederacy , called the problem that Black women encounter when seeking elected office an “ imagination gap .” Too many voters in the past haven ’ t been able to imagine Black women in these positions , she said .
McClellan ’ s victory suggests that this imagination gap might be closing . If so , two Black women may well be elected to the U . S . Senate this year . One in Delaware , the other in neighboring Maryland .
And if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 presidential contest , that gap could shrink to the size of a sidewalk crack . At least that is the hope . Harris credits former Rep . Shirley Chisholm , D-New York , with inspiring her to seek the Oval Office job . In 1972 , Chisholm became the first Black woman to vie for the presidential nomination of a major political party . Back then , the imagination gap was a wide chasm . And racism and misogyny were rampant in the political life of this country , even in one of America ’ s leading newspapers .
Here ’ s how Chisholm ’ s physical appearance was described in a New York Times article that was published on June 25 , 1972 , just a month before the Democratic National Convention :
“ Though her quickness and animation leave an impression of bright femininity , she is not beautiful ,” The New York Times said of Chisholm . “ Her face is bony and angular , her nose wide and flat , her eyes small almost to beadiness ( sic ), her neck and limbs scrawny . Her protruding teeth probably account for her noticeable lisp .”
Instead of responding to this harsh critique of her appearance , Chisholm got off this salvo . “ I want to be the candidate for those who see beyond my Blackness and femaleness and see a candidate
( U . S . Library of Congress )
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