Badass Women in Washingtonbegin quote from:How Kamala Harris stands up to speak |
Kamala Harris is every woman who stands up to speak
Sen. Harris cut off while questioning Sessions 01:26
Story highlights
- Roxanne Jones: Kamala Harris is every woman who has ever earned a position of power and has not been afraid to use it
- Senators, step aside, stop interrupting and let the woman do her job, writes Jones
Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has worked as a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of "Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete." She talks politics, sports and culture weekly on Philadelphia's 900AM-WURD. The views expressed here are solely hers.
(CNN)Washington
may be a tough town where the big boys roam free, but apparently,
freshman Sen. Kamala Devi Harris makes these career politicians nervous.
Educated,
experienced and ready to rumble, the senator from California will not be
silenced, especially when it comes to getting at the truth in the
Russian investigation hanging over Donald Trump's administration, though
that is exactly what her male colleagues want to do: silence her.
Again
and again during the Senate intelligence committee hearings into
Russian interference in the 2016 elections, Harris, who is of black and
Indian descent, has been reprimanded by her all-white male colleagues
for simply doing her job: asking direct questions and expecting direct
answers in return.
By
her colleagues and by pundits, she's been called too tough, too rude,
even hysterical by one former Trump campaign adviser. The only senator
to be cut off for asking tough questions in these hearings has been
Harris, once last week while questioning Deputy Attorney General Rod J.
Rosenstein and then again Tuesday when Attorney General Jeff Sessions
was testifying.
This reaction to
Harris is a double standard. An ugly intimidation tactic applied to
working women that should not be tolerated. Not today. Because let's be
clear, what really appears to rankle these men is Harris' courage, her
confidence in her own skin. She is a woman of color who is not afraid to
challenge the status quo. It's for the good of the nation that she
refuses to be silent.
Harris'
questions, though persistent, have never crossed the line of being rude
or disrespectful. She doesn't raise her voice or throw around
accusations or insults.
Not a peep
of reproach was heard from men on the committee as her colleague and
fellow Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden, accused Sessions of "stonewalling."
Other senators also got into tense exchanges.
Senators, this is unacceptable.
Something
tells me that Harris, who served two terms as San Francisco's first
female district attorney and then was the first woman elected as
California attorney general, has been through this before, maybe her
entire career.
I know that I
certainly have, and frankly it's gotten a little boring. This old "boys
club" strategy is familiar: the blatant disrespect and machismo that
singles out women, especially intelligent women of color, who insist on
being a part of the conversation.
Kamala
Harris is every working woman who has ever earned a position of power
and has not been afraid to use it. She is an inspiration. The way she
approaches her career reminds us women that we need not carry the weight
of men who have not learned to see us as equals. We cannot allow them
to hold us back, or silence us into self-doubt.
For
me, Harris represents every woman who's ever decided to stand up and be
heard, no matter how large or small our platform. She is Sen. Maxine
Waters and Michelle Obama. She is Arianna Huffington and Hillary
Clinton. She is me. And she is you.
Many
Americans watching the Senate hearings this week related to Harris'
frustrations as Sessions continuously refused to give direct answers.
She, like others on the committee, were weary of Sessions' repeated
nonanswers of "I don't recall," or, "I don't remember." Harris wanted a
"yes" or "no" answer.
Seemingly,
less concerned with getting a firm answer than they were with rescuing
Sessions, Sens. John McCain (who isn't even on the Senate intelligence
committee) and Richard Burr, committee chairman, cut off Harris'
questioning.
These are not delicate days.
Wednesday's tragic politically motivated shooting, which injured GOP
Rep. Steve Scalise and four others at a Republican baseball team
practice ahead of a charity baseball game, make it seem as if our
political divisions grow deeper each day. But we have to hope that some
things are still sacred. Surely, we can agree on some general principles
of democracy:
Russia interfering with a US election can't be tolerated.
The possibility that political operatives may have colluded with a foreign government, in any way, must be investigated.
And,
any possibility that the President of the United States or any of his
operatives tried to obstruct justice must be investigated to the fullest
extent of the law, no matter how many tough questions it takes to get
to the truth.
Americans
want answers. We want to believe the truth still matters in politics.
Kamala Harris is a refreshing, truth-seeking voice.
So senators, step aside, stop interrupting and let the woman do her job.
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