FACT CHECK -- Is Kamala Harris the First Black Vice Presidential candidate
Kamala Harris is NOT the first Black woman, woman, immigrant or WOC to become a vice presidential candidate. Several other women politicians paved the way for Harris' historic bow.
In 1972, representing Brooklyn, NY, Shirley Chisholm (whose family was from the Caribbean) became the first black major-party candidate to run for POTUS. Over three decades later, Carol Mosely Braun, also Black, ran for president as a Democrat in 2004. But that was after Geraldine Ferraro was selected as Walter Mondale's VP running mate. U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith had previously run for the Republican presidential nomination.
Also from California, Black Journalist/activist Chatlotta Bass, ran with a Progressive in 1952 -- BEFORE the Voting Rights Act was passed. Johns Hopkins historian Martha Jones told the Washington Post, "Bass helped usher the notion of a Black female candidate fully into the political mainstream."
This makes Harris the third woman VP candidate on a major party ticket.
