V.P. Harris and a Curious Case of Imposter Syndrome
An op-ed highlighting the realities of imposter syndrome’s effect on Vice President Kamala Harris and many Black Americans in professional spaces.
By: Ian L. Courts, Esq.¹
Over the past week, our news feeds have been flooded with articles analyzing, criticizing, and sympathizing with Vice President Harris’s first diplomatic trip to Guatemala and Mexico. This barrage of newsworthiness is expected because it is of public interest how our vice president represents us to the world. However, it is also abnormal in the infatuation and over-fascination with every perceived misstep V.P. Harris makes. Many of these analysts and opinionists cloak their critique in impartial facades; however, underneath one can perceive an obsession with alleged failures of the first woman vice president, who also happens to be Black. Now before you write me off as a propagandist for Vice President Harris, hear me out; I believe that no politician or public official is above reproach and immune from criticism — it’s a part of the bag, so to speak, when your step into the spotlight. However, all criticism should be thoroughly founded in facts and context! My point in writing this piece is to make the argument that Vice President Harris, with all her strengths, historicity, and weaknesses, is exhibiting symptoms of Imposter Syndrome, something many of us Black persons in professional and/or public spheres know all too well.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is the feeling of being underequipped or less than in a professional setting. Imposter syndrome manifests itself in anxiety-induced underperformance, depression, and or over cautiousness. The latter definition — over cautiousness-has been applied to Vice President Harris throughout her career. Vice President Harris takes the “safe route” and tries to tether herself to what she perceives is the consensus of public opinion, to the chagrin of activists and opponents. Could it be that Vice President Harris understands the nuances of the uniqueness of her existence in traditional white and male spaces? Or that she knows that every step she makes will be judged more harshly than those before her?
The Reality of Being Black in America
Black Americans’ experience in this country has been one of finding our own identity and space while not being perceived as threatening to White America. From slavery, through Reconstruction, into the Civil Rights Movement, and even today, Black Americans are under the eye and scrutiny of a predominantly white culture. As a daughter of immigrants raised as a Black woman, Vice President Harris intimately knows the intricacies of being Black under White scrutiny. However, despite that reality, she has a had successful career in law enforcement and politics — traditionally white spaces. Nonetheless, her successes have not made her immune from scrutiny but opened her up to more surveillance, and she has struggled with exceeding expectations and dealing with imposter syndrome.
The H.B.C.U. Experience
Vice President Harris is a graduate of Howard University, one of the oldest historically black colleges and universities in America. H.B.C.U.’s were established because access to collegiate education in traditional institutions was in many cases illegal or impractical for many Black Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As an H.B.C.U. Graduate — North Carolina Central University School of Law — I intimately know that our schools emphasize quality, performance, and identity. H.B.C.U.’s are microcosms of Black diversity, intellectualism, and community. H.B.C.U.’s foster a sense of ethnic pride and an emphasis on success and overperformance. The adage in many Black households, further reinforced at our H.B.C.U.’s, is the reality that “Black people must work twice as hard” to be considered equal with white people and “overachieve” to be immune from competency criticism. Vice President Harris as a graduate of an H.B.C.U. understands these dynamics well, and it shows in her political calculations and performance. Many of Vice President Harris’s close friends say she is almost obsessed with preparation and really likes to break down a matter into understandable pieces, which can cause her to be lost in the details.
The Blessing & Curse of “Firsthood”
Being the first to achieve something significant is excellent and comes with a lot of baggage and criticism. I am the first attorney in my immediate family, and my experience is not unique. Many of my Black friends and colleagues fit the same bill. Similarly, Vice President Harris is the first woman and first Black Vice President of the United States of America. Her ascent to the Veep slot is both commendable and terrifying. Commendable in the sense that she put a hole in the stained-glass ceiling that keeps women regulated to supportive roles, but terrifying in the sense that she is criticized for every misstep and has no framework to reference. Vice President Harris is learning on the job and creating a new pathway.
The Complexity of the Vice Presidency
The vice presidency is a mixed bag of power and restraint. The Vice President does what is assigned for her to do by the President. However, if a Vice President steps ahead or out of sync with the President, there can be political reward and risk. Vice President Harris’s conundrum is more accentuated because she is a history-making V.P. pick and preemptively deemed the heir to Biden’s presidency. For much of the 2020 democratic primary, Harris tried to stake out distinctions and differences between herself and Biden; however, now she must marry her beliefs to President Biden’s and sell them to the American public. Thus, Vice President Harris is balancing on a political tightrope while dealing with the realities many Black Americans have faced — the pervasive scrutiny of White America and the effects of imposter syndrome. Vice President Harris’s success or failure will depend on how she manages these competing interests and experiences.
Again, this piece is not to garner sympathy for Vice President Harris or make excuses for her missteps. Instead, my purpose is to provide context to her reality and highlight how imposter syndrome and white scrutiny have and can impact the lives of many Black Americans in professional spaces. Vice President Harris has been in office just over 100 days; let’s breathe and allow her room to grow!
[1]: About the Author: Ian Courts is a young millennial attorney with expertise and a passion in American and international law and politics. Ian received his BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2017, in 2020 he received his J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law, and in 2022 Ian received his LLM in International Criminal Law and Justice from the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Ian lives in Philadelphia where he is an appellate lawyer and the proud fur-dad of two American Cocker Spaniels.
