What Happens if Joe Biden Doesn’t Choose a Black Woman as His Running Mate? It Depends.

A primary assumption seems to be that, by choosing a Black woman vice presidential candidate, Joe Biden will be better attuned to the needs of Black Americans. But is that a reasonable assumption?

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

As it becomes it increasingly clear that Joe Biden does not have the range to run a campaign by himself without sticking his foot in his mouth or saying something “racially insensitive” — the preferred epithet for Whites who are apparently allergic to the word “racist” — claims that the presumptive Democratic nominee for president needs a Black woman to save his campaign (and Biden from himself, if we’re keeping it real) have reached a fever pitch. Indeed, just last month, The Action Network — a non-profit organization dedicated to “building progressive power” (their words) — published a letter that has now been signed by over 500 Black women leaders urging Biden to select a Black woman as his running mate. And just last week, seven prominent figures from the media and the political world — all Black women — published an op-ed in The Washington Post, complete with a well-curated video to boot, stating that Biden “owes’’ Black women for their continued support over the years and should be rewarded in kind OR ELSE. OK, I added the “or else,” but the implication is clear: Few people — Black women and non-Black women alike — seem to be checking for an all-White Democratic ticket in the year of our lord 2020.

Why such a public campaign for a Black woman vice presidential candidate? And why now? The answers to these questions are, of course, complicated. Thus, rather than engage in the pious effort of attempting to answer these questions I will, instead, address what I believe are the underlying assumptions of this push, beginning with the most obvious.

1. Choosing a Black Woman Vice Presidential candidate will result in increased Black turnout and, thus, a greater likelihood of defeating Tr*mp. In addressing this assumption, there is a wealth of political science research to which we can refer. First, Black voters have — since the election of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 — overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party. Though the most obvious reason is that the Republican Party is the de facto party of whiteness; thus, leaving Blacks with no reasonable alternative to the Democratic Party, recent political science research has contested the notion that White racism is what’s keeping Blacks beholden to the Democratic party, particularly in presidential elections. Rather, because there is such a strong social norm within the Black community associated with voting Democrat — and because Blacks in America participate in a norm-enforcing form of politics that transcends class, geography, time, etc. — Blacks by-and-large remain steadfast supporters of the Democratic Party, irrespective of their political ideology. Taken together, it seems unlikely that there will be many Biden defectors, though one could perhaps make the case that some voters could ostensibly stay home if Biden opts for a “lily white” ticket, as the church mothers used to say. Notably, though, political science research tends to find that vice presidential selections have a negligible effect on voting behavior, if any at all.
2. Representation Matters. This assumption is a bit harder to deconstruct. Though I have been highly critical of the notion of “diversity” and find that it operates dangerously close to the realm of tokenism, there is actually a long line of political science research that engages the question of whether Blacks are better represented by Black, rather than White elites — a phenomenon known as “descriptive representation.” The answer to that question has, for the most part, been “yes, but.” Largely, this research finds that Black individuals generally feel more politically empowered, become somewhat more civically engaged and express warmer feelings towards government when they are represented by other Blacks individuals. Thus, there is some evidence that there are psychological and emotional benefits that come with descriptive representation. This should come as no surprise. When the chambers of Congress still look like a Sunday morning at the Cracker Barrel, any melanin is appreciated. And this is coming from someone who loves the Cracker Barrel (let me have my Momma’s French Toast Breakfast in peace, thank you). The research suggests, then, that descriptive representation might engender positive attitudes among Black individuals within the electorate. But is it fair to say that…
3. Blacks will benefit materially if Biden chooses a Black woman Vice President. This is where I believe the “Biden needs to pick a Black woman!” refrain has jumped the shark. To wit, the cries for a Black woman Vice President have devolved such that many are largely refusing to even engage this assumption. Rather, it seems as though whether or not the material conditions that most Black Americans face are improved is ancillary to the point, so long as there is a Black woman on the ticket. Of course, the (insert Black woman here) campaign has not been without its detractors. Many have rightfully noted that by focusing almost exclusively on phenotypic manifestations associated with “race,” rather than the material implications of “race” — which is, in itself, a class distinction — we both essentialize “race” (i.e., “any Black will do; y’all all think the same!”) and decenter the very real economic oppression many Black Americans continue to face. Thus, rather than simply making the argument that Biden “needs” a Black woman, PERIOD!, individuals attempting to shape Biden’s decision-making process should be making the argument that Biden needs to pick a vice presidential candidate who is both a Black woman and committed to a politics of liberation. This means picking a Black woman who is unabashedly committed to economic justice (because individuals raced as “Black” are still far less financially secure relative to those raced as “White”), disrupting neoliberalism (which has a stranglehold on our faltering health care system, schools, universities, etc.) and isn’t an imperialist (because liberation transcends so-called borders). Otherwise, what is really the point? Biden could call up ol’ Condoleezza Rice and call it a day. She ain’t doing nothing since her time on the College Football Playoff Committee has come to an end (a WTF moment if there ever was one), and Biden has already signaled (in jest? who really knows) that he’d be open to choosing a Republican as his running mate.

Of course, one might reasonably suspect that the women who signed that letter last month — and, likely, Black women more broadly — would not find befitting the selection of Condoleezza Rice as Biden’s vice presidential candidate. But why not?

Is she black? Check.

Is she a woman? Check.

Is she engaged in a politics of liberation? Well…

This is exactly my point. If we are truly committed to addressing racial inequality in America — which means rectifying economic injustice that poor and working class people face, most of whom have been disproportionately raced as Black— then this is the question that must be asked of Joe Biden and any of the candidates currently being vetted for vice president, regardless of the way they have been raced. And ya boy is no boo boo, the fool — I know politics in America seldom centers the poor and working class, largely because racism (which, in America, is an ideology that operates to delegitimize the experiences and lives of those with “black” skin; thus, classing them accordingly) forecloses such a possibility. But if we are not going to even pretend to have that conversation, then what are we even doing? To quote the late Toni Morrison, “the function of freedom is to free someone else.”

Any candidate that Joe Biden picks as his running mate — Black woman or otherwise — should be unequivocally committed to freeing someone else. If not, Joe can just spare us the pageantry and get Condi on the phone.