"Kamala Harris has made multiple headlines for being Joe Biden's running nominee for the upcoming presidential election. However, what do people in the Bay Area think of Kamala Harris?"--Kamaria Williams, 9th grade
Kamala Harris has made multiple headlines for being Joe Biden's running nominee for the upcoming presidential election. According to Britannica, after studying and earning a bachelor's degree in economics and political science at Howard University, Harris later earned a law degree at Hastings College in 1989. During her time in college, however, she was a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County from 1990-1998. In 2004, she became a San Francisco District Attorney.
That said, Harris has accomplished some great things and many people love her for it. However, not everyone thinks Harris is the bee's knees due to her District Attorney position, where she is known to have incarcerated many African Americans.
However, what do people in the Bay Area think of Kamala Harris?
Starting on the good side, Harris is widely admired for strong ambition and headstrong nature. According to Vox she has won some major cases during her time as a San Francisco district attorney.
Some of the work Harris has done during that time has helped the LGBTQ+ community. Such as, doing work to oppose Proposition 8 (which banned same-sex marriage) and creating a Hate Crimes Unit which prosecuted hate crimes commited against LGBTQ+ students. According to NBC news, Harris organized a conference that brought over 100 government officials to talk about strategies to combat what is known as “gay and transgender panic defense.” Due to this California became the first state to ban the practice.
On that same NBC news page there were many reactions to this work. One such reaction was Matt Hill's, who stated that “he was proud to be gay–and proud Joe Biden picked a running mate who is a true champion for the LGBTQ+ community.”
Another good reaction I found from that page was from Pete Buttigeg, who said “It feels good to visualize the moment when Vice President Mike Pence is replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.”
According to Vox, another great thing she has done was help over 84,000 Californian families during a financial crisis. In 2012, Harris made a $25 billion dollar settlement deal with Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, CitiFinancial, Ally Financial, and Wells Fargo citing improper foreclosure practices. She also pulled out an earlier settlement deal so she could give more money to affected homeowners.
Many people thought her gamble was a terrible choice but fortunately all worked out well. She was able to give out more money than originally promised. In fact, Californian homeowners would be guaranteed $12 billion in debt reduction. Which was worlds better than other states at the time.
So now you know some good things she's done. So let's see what critics say about Kamala.
As mentioned before, Harris is not typically liked due to her position as district attorney. To many people she is known to have incarcerated many African Americans. On top of this, she's known to have unfairly prosecuted innocent people.
One very well known case would be of Jamal Trulove who was framed for the murder of Seu Kuka. According to The Appeal, Priscilla Lualemaga who was the “eye witness” said she saw Trulove from San Francisco's Sunnydale Housing project just before 11pm on July 23rd, 2007. The main reason the jury believed her was because according to Priscilla she was worried that she could be killed for speaking out about this. The reality? Priscilla was being paid $60,000 in living expenses to falsely testify against Jamal.
"She was not fit to testify, Kamala basically paid someone to send a black man to jail," said a Bay Area resident in a discussion from 2 weeks ago.
According to a San Francisco Chronicle article about overall reactions towards Harris, Senator Melissa Melendez tweeted: "Pretty sure she locked up more of the black population in prison than she will lock up in their votes."
So there you have it. Harris isn't exactly a complete angel but she isn't all that bad. What do you think of Kamala? Do you think she has what it takes to be America's next Vice President?
That said, Harris has accomplished some great things and many people love her for it. However, not everyone thinks Harris is the bee's knees due to her District Attorney position, where she is known to have incarcerated many African Americans.
However, what do people in the Bay Area think of Kamala Harris?
Starting on the good side, Harris is widely admired for strong ambition and headstrong nature. According to Vox she has won some major cases during her time as a San Francisco district attorney.
Some of the work Harris has done during that time has helped the LGBTQ+ community. Such as, doing work to oppose Proposition 8 (which banned same-sex marriage) and creating a Hate Crimes Unit which prosecuted hate crimes commited against LGBTQ+ students. According to NBC news, Harris organized a conference that brought over 100 government officials to talk about strategies to combat what is known as “gay and transgender panic defense.” Due to this California became the first state to ban the practice.
On that same NBC news page there were many reactions to this work. One such reaction was Matt Hill's, who stated that “he was proud to be gay–and proud Joe Biden picked a running mate who is a true champion for the LGBTQ+ community.”
Another good reaction I found from that page was from Pete Buttigeg, who said “It feels good to visualize the moment when Vice President Mike Pence is replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.”
According to Vox, another great thing she has done was help over 84,000 Californian families during a financial crisis. In 2012, Harris made a $25 billion dollar settlement deal with Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, CitiFinancial, Ally Financial, and Wells Fargo citing improper foreclosure practices. She also pulled out an earlier settlement deal so she could give more money to affected homeowners.
Many people thought her gamble was a terrible choice but fortunately all worked out well. She was able to give out more money than originally promised. In fact, Californian homeowners would be guaranteed $12 billion in debt reduction. Which was worlds better than other states at the time.
So now you know some good things she's done. So let's see what critics say about Kamala.
As mentioned before, Harris is not typically liked due to her position as district attorney. To many people she is known to have incarcerated many African Americans. On top of this, she's known to have unfairly prosecuted innocent people.
One very well known case would be of Jamal Trulove who was framed for the murder of Seu Kuka. According to The Appeal, Priscilla Lualemaga who was the “eye witness” said she saw Trulove from San Francisco's Sunnydale Housing project just before 11pm on July 23rd, 2007. The main reason the jury believed her was because according to Priscilla she was worried that she could be killed for speaking out about this. The reality? Priscilla was being paid $60,000 in living expenses to falsely testify against Jamal.
"She was not fit to testify, Kamala basically paid someone to send a black man to jail," said a Bay Area resident in a discussion from 2 weeks ago.
According to a San Francisco Chronicle article about overall reactions towards Harris, Senator Melissa Melendez tweeted: "Pretty sure she locked up more of the black population in prison than she will lock up in their votes."
So there you have it. Harris isn't exactly a complete angel but she isn't all that bad. What do you think of Kamala? Do you think she has what it takes to be America's next Vice President?
