Women Make History: Harris and Ng
Nicole Parker ‘24 Sports Editor
In the course of just six days, two powerful women made history by shattering barriers that have been in place for hundreds of years. After her running mate Joe Biden won the electoral college vote on November 7, Kamala Harris became the first-ever female vice president-elect in the United States. Days later, Kim Ng became the first female general manager in Major League Baseball. These milestones are even more extraordinary because both women are also minorities: Harris’ parents immigrated from India and Jamaica, and Ng’s parents are of Chinese descent.
Harris and Ng broke through the glass ceiling after decades of hard work and a lot of firsts. Harris was the first Black woman to be elected District Attorney in San Francisco and the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American to be California’s Attorney General. She is now second in line to the most powerful office in the world. Ng landed her first assistant general manager job with the New York Yankees at 29, but had to wait 22 years and endure rejections from five MLB teams in her pursuit of the top job before being named the general manager of the Miami Marlins. MIAMI, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 16, 2020- Kim Ng at Marlins Park after being named the new General Manager. JOSEPH GUZY/MIAMI MARLINS
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WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, NOVEMBER 7, 2020- Vice President-elect Kamala Harris made history during her victory speech as the first female vice president-elect of the United States. NBC NEWS
Freshman Sage Bryant says, “I think it helps representation and definitely boosts young girls’ confidence for one, as well as it gives a different view to the country.” Bryant hopes that having women in the highest levels of leadership becomes so common that it no longer needs to be talked about: “I hope to have women’s rights removed as a discussion topic. Human rights should not be a discussion topic.”
To put Harris and Ng’s achievements in perspective, the first U.S. president and vice president were elected 231 years ago. Major League Baseball has been around for 151 years. It remains to be seen when a woman will become president or the first head coach of a professional sports team. Ng and Harris’ impact is expected to open doors for women all across the country for more opportunities. Junior Joey Hilte says, “It’s really cool to see women representing some major things in modern times. To see how much we have improved as a country and how far [women] have come to have a bigger role in society is great.” Hilte thinks Ng’s leadership could be a game-changer: “For baseball, this could finally allow that diverge of softball and baseball to be filled and could also allow other sports to incorporate a mix of male and female team members.” As Kamala Harris said during her acceptance speech a few weeks ago, she may be the first woman to be in this position, but she certainly won’t be the last. |