In the barrier-breaking ceremony on Wednesday, Kamala Harris has been sworn in as Vice-President becoming the first woman in American history as well as the first woman of African American and South Asian descent to hold the post.
Harris used two bibles, one that belonged to the late civil rights icon and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshal and another owned by family friend Regina Shelton. Harris used Shelton’s bible when she took the oath of office as California Attorney General and later as a U.S. senator.
Harris’s elevation fulfils a major destination of Biden’s presidential arc to install people of colour and women in powerful positions in his administration, where historically only white men have been. She was one of ten black lawmakers and only the second black woman to serve in the upper chamber. Her resignation from Senate seat on Monday signifies that no black women are serving in the U.S. Senate.
Biden and Harris have both described their ideal relationship as similar to that between Biden and Barack Obama when the latter was president. “We are full partners,” said Harris giving them a team name ‘BiHarris’.
