Black women in Georgia discuss their key election issues and Harris' historic campaign

Monday marked the final round of online balloting by Democratic delegates, officially making Vice President Kamala Harris the first Black and South Asian woman to secure the presidential nomination from one of the two major parties. Laura Barrón-López traveled to Georgia to hear from Black women, a pivotal voting bloc for the Democratic Party, about Harris’ candidacy and this milestone.

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Amna Nawaz: It’s official. Today marked the final round of online balloting by Democratic delegates, making Vice President Kamala Harris the first Black and South Asian woman to ever secure the presidential nomination from one of America’s two major political parties.

Laura Barron-Lopez recently traveled to Georgia to hear from Black women, a pivotal voting bloc for the Democratic Party, about Harris’ candidacy and this milestone.

Woman: Come on, Atlanta! What we do. What we do.

Laura Barron-Lopez: At Kamala Harris’ first major rally in the key state of Georgia since she began her campaign for president, the atmosphere was more like a concert than a political event, reflecting a surge in enthusiasm among Democratic voters since Harris announced her candidacy just over two weeks ago.

Tamicia Eaton, Georgia Voter: I do think this has energized us for the future, looking forward.

Kimberly Williams, Georgia Voter: To me, this is more than just a campaign. It’s the future. I have a 25-year-old. My daughter just turned 25 in June. And when you hear people talking about taking people’s voting rights away, telling women what to do with their bodies, I really hate that were going backwards.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Voters of color, and especially Black women, helped flip Georgia blue in 2020; 95 percent of Black women in the state backed Joe Biden and will be critical to any path to victory here for Harris.

To get a deeper look at what this historic moment means and the issues that matter most to this voting bloc, I sat down with three Black women from the Peach State.

What was your reaction when you saw the party rally so quickly behind Vice President Harris?

Dr. Maya Eady McCarthy, Georgia Voter: I was super excited because finally we had someone on the ticket that looked like me and was living proof that it can be done. And, at that moment, I was like, whatever I need to do to support her, I will do it.

Rachel Mitchum Elahee, Georgia Voter: My heart leapt. My heart leapt. The phrase that keeps coming to mind is, let’s go. Let’s go, President Harris. Let’s get it. And I’m saying President Harris purposefully.

(Laughter)

Kaila Pouncy, Georgia Voter: It was this monumental energy shift. You know, people are talking about it on every social media platform. You can’t go in the coffee shop and not hear about what’s going on.

Laura Barron-Lopez: It’s an excitement these women haven’t felt since President Obama’s 2008 campaign.

Rachel Mitchum Elahee: I feel that this exceeds that.

Dr. Maya Eady McCarthy: This feels even more, more elevated, more excitement, and more just a general, like, a big sigh of relief and then this huge surge of energy. It’s 2008, plus a whole like 100 times more.

Kaila Pouncy: One thing that I immediately caught a lot of Gen Z voters off rip was her joy.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Twenty-year-old Kaila Pouncy, who grew up in Atlanta, says the vice president has formed a unique connection to her generation during Harris’ first run for president in 2020.

Kaila Pouncy: And that’s kind of been an ongoing meme, just kind of the idea of laughing in the face of chaos and not only going into the room with positivity, but taking the energy in the room and changing it.

Laura Barron-Lopez: For Maya Eady McCarthy, a doctor who herself experienced pregnancy complications in 2020, the vice president’s outspoken advocacy for reproductive rights since the fall of Roe v. Wade stands out.

Dr. Maya Eady McCarthy: I want to be able to leave this world and know that my daughter has more freedoms than I was able to enjoy, not less. And I firmly believe that no man, no government, should inform what I choose to do about my body, especially when it comes to reproductive health.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Mother of four Rachel Mitchum Elahee says voters will also be focused on the economy this cycle.

Rachel Mitchum Elahee: I’m hearing concerns about financial security, and not only how we’re living day to day now, how we’re going to make it with rising prices, but also concern about Social Security.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Pouncy says many Gen Z voters hope that Harris will distance herself from Biden’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war.

Kaila Pouncy: To see some sort of statement taking a bold stance, an action that will ultimately result in a cease-fire from the vice president.

Laura Barron-Lopez: If she doesn’t take that bold stance, do you still plan on voting for her?

Kaila Pouncy: I do plan on still voting for her. A step in that direction would be significantly better than ultimately settling for the alternative.

Laura Barron-Lopez: That alternative, former President Donald Trump, recently stepped up personal attacks against Harris, including questioning her Black identity during an interview before the National Association of Black Journalists.

Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: She was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black.

Laura Barron-Lopez: We spoke to these women before Trump’s comments, but in follow-up conversations, all the women agreed that Trump’s statements were offensive.

Dr. Maya Eady McCarthy: It’s just — it’s senseless. It’s disrespectful. As a biracial woman, she decides what she identifies with. So it’s not like she — quote, unquote — “turned” a certain race or ethnicity at a certain period in life. She’s always been that way.

Rachel Mitchum Elahee: It was a slap in the face. She has always shown up as an African American or African American and Asian woman.

Laura Barron-Lopez: And it’s because of that identity, they say, that Harris has faced a unique set of critiques.

Some Republicans have called her a DEI hire. What do you make of all of those attacks?

Kaila Pouncy: It’s very important for us to question what those things mean, because, ultimately you’re saying that she’s unqualified because she’s Black, and that, because she is a Black woman, and that she fulfills that status, she will not be able to handle the responsibilities of the job.

Rachel Mitchum Elahee: I’m not even sure why I’m giving oxygen to these schoolyard antics. That being said, there’s an adage in our community that we have to work twice as hard to get half as far. But when we get in position, we still must perform, and she is more than capable.

Laura Barron-Lopez: In the past, we have seen sexist, racist remarks made against candidates like Barack Obama, made against Hillary Clinton when she ran. Are you concerned at all just about the road that Vice President Harris faces?

Kaila Pouncy: I’m more so concerned about the mental health of a lot of young Black girls in our nation who are watching these things happen. You finally get to see somebody who looks like you up on this platform ready to make change, and then just to see the world so viciously tear at her and try to break that spirit is very detrimental.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Despite these attacks, this group says America is ready to elect its first Black woman president.

Dr. Maya Eady McCarthy: I’d never thought I’d see something like this in my lifetime. Women can adequately lead this country, more than adequately lead this country. And it is time to put a woman on that platform to get the job done.

Rachel Mitchum Elahee: Change is scary, and its hard to envision it sometimes. Whether people think we’re ready for something or not, it shouldn’t preclude you or stop you launching out. Even though people didn’t think they were ready for this, we are. We’re ready.

(Laughter)

Rachel Mitchum Elahee: We’re ready.

Laura Barron-Lopez: For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Laura Barron-Lopez in Atlanta, Georgia.