In Tim Walz, Black Women See the ‘Right White Man’ for VP

When Tim Walz addresses the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, Kamala Harris’ new running mate will mark a milestone: Never has America seen a white man serve as cheerleader and chief promoter of a Black woman at this level of politics before.

And as delegates gathered here before his speech, one significant part of the Democratic Party’s base — Black women — said it was about time.

“He is the right white man for the job,” said Brenda Coles, a Richmond, Virginia-based activist who has been working 40 years to help elect Democrats.

Coles, donning a “Win With Black Women” pen on the collar of her dress, said she appreciates that Walz, the Minnesota governor, does not appear intimidated by being a subordinate to “a Black woman with the caliber” of Harris.

“I am such a proud Black woman to support our great Kamala Harris,” Coles said Wednesday just outside a conference room where the Virginia delegation held its daily breakfast meeting, adding that she’s now “claiming” Walz as her own vice president, too.

Harris only seriously considered white men as running mates — others in contention included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — a move many said was a means of balancing the ticket and appealing to some white voters.

To many Democrats here — and especially to Black women — the pairing represents a significant step forward in a country still struggling with fraught issues of race. In nearly two dozen interviews, Black women who serve as Democratic strategists, activists and elected officials and convention attendees, said they became Walz fans when he spoke at a rally with Harris in Philadelphia earlier this month. Though many acknowledged they knew little about him at the time, many found themselves gravitating to the Midwestern governor for the same reasons other Democrats say they do.

They said they admire his working-class background, but also his signing of legislation that spoke to Black communities, including establishing a statewide Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. Some said they were moved by his retelling of the personal struggles he and his wife Gwen endured years ago trying to conceive.

But they were also moved by what his selection said progress on matters of race.

“It’s a natural fit and a natural partnership for a man who has dedicated his life to serving others,” said Rep. Jennifer McClellan, a Democrat and a Harris surrogate who was sworn in as the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia last year. She said this role is the “next logical step” in Walz’s career.

A 21-year-old delegate from Tennessee, Dottie Ferreira, got to hear Walz speak when he headlined the Black Caucus meeting at the DNC on Monday. She said he “had the crowd going, especially Black women.”

It was a moment, she said, that made clear to her that Walz was capable of seeing beyond race.

“Racism … plays an important part in the United States,” Ferreira said, but seeing “a white man supporting a Black woman become one of the most important people in the world, that’s so that’s very amazing.”

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