You don’t have to be a woman to appreciate the advances Geraldine Ferraro made in her 1984 shot at the vice presidency. After her death on Saturday, we’ve been realizing that she, along with others of her ilk, have been changing our nation far more than the requisite history-class mention would have us think.
People like Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president on a major party’s ticket, worked to change the assumptions of the American people. For that, we all have benefited. Sure, many have pointed out that her pioneering helped pave the way for Sarah Palin, but we can forgive her for that. To ask the citizens of this nation to envision something other than an old white man as the face of power and leadership was a huge step. It expanded the numbers of daydreaming children who thought they one day could be a leader of this nation.
Of course, we still have some invisible barriers. Women still have a harder time taking on a political career than men do. Our lawmakers’ ranks often skew away from minorities, and, as we’ve seen recently, sexual orientation still can cause a stir among politicians. That’s before we even approach the problem of the proliferation of wealthy, well-to-dos at the helm of our ship.
With that said, the obstacles, be they real or imagined, barring many Americans from seeking or winning public office slowly are being chipped away.
For changing the face of leadership and the mindset of a country, we thank Ferraro and the other firsts in our history.
