When Vice President Kamala Harris held her first rally as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, my husband and I watched intently as our daughters wandered into the room. They could see how excited we were—standing close to the TV, our hands clasped tight, my eyes welling up with tears. They asked us who she was, and we told them, “That’s Kamala Harris. And she is going to be our first woman president.”

“She looks like me,” said my 6-year-old, the daughter of a Nigerian American father and white mother.