Kamala Harris is flexing her HBCU muscles on her quest to become the first Black and woman president of the United States. The popular California senator has been heavily campaigning at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in hopes of garnering Black students’ support, according to The Associated Press (AP).
At a town hall held April 20 at South Carolina State University, Harris stated the importance of HBCUs and her belief the government should support them more because of their current and historical importance, according to The Times and Democrat.
“The only way that I believe we can ensure our relevancy to the people that we serve is to listen to the people that we serve … hear about the way that folks are thinking about issues, and also to hear and get feedback about a lot of the policies that we have been leading around supporting HBCUs, both in terms of the students that are nurtured and are encouraged through our HBCUs,” Harris told the crowd.
Known to be top producers of many successful Black leaders in all sectors of society, HBCU students’ and graduates’ support would help boost Harris’ candidacy. The day she announced her presidential campaign, Harris set the tone by holding her first press conference as a candidate on the grounds of her alma mater, Howard University. She credits it as being the place “where it all began.”
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Harris is not new to her support for HBCUs, however. She is known to proudly greet other Bisons (Howard’s mascot) and celebrate HBCU traditions. She tweeted her enthusiasm about Beyonce’s Netflix film “Homecoming” for this very reason.
HBCU pride and support aside, there is debate as to whether or not Harris can be trusted to lead and represent Black America’s interests properly. One of the main strikes against her is a questionable record as a non-progressive prosecutor.
