An Inauguration Like No Other
My mom made me watch the presidential inauguration ceremony this week. I didn’t exactly put up resistance, but watching a political ceremony also wasn’t my first choice of things to do. In the end, I was happy that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in, and there were three moments that stood out to me. In the first place, it was weird to watch Joe and Jill Biden walk alone into the White House without being greeted by the outgoing president and first lady. It was also cool to watch Justice Sotomayor give the oath of office to Harris. Finally, I was struck by Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem.
I remember in 2016 how Barack and Michelle Obama welcomed Donald and Melania Trump to the White House. Nobody thought that the Obamas were happy to do this, or that they were in any way happy to spend time with the Trumps. But they did it, mostly because it’s what outgoing presidents do to help ensure a peaceful transition. To watch the Bidens entire the White House without the Trumps there to greet them was strange. I wish it were the only strange thing to have occurred since the election, but that’s not our country right now.
It was an incredible moment when Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotamayor. She introduced Sotomayor as the first Latinx justice to give the vice-presidential oath of office to the first woman, African American, and South Asian American to serve as vice-president. In a way, these were two memorable moments brought together in one important juncture. Harris’s election means a lot to me personally, as it gives me concrete proof that Indian Americans can occupy positions of political leadership in the United States. I may never run for higher office, but she makes it clear that it is at least possible.
Perhaps the most dramatic moment of the inauguration was Amanda Gorman’s reading of “The Hill We Climb,” a poem she had written. When I was listening to the poem I couldn't quite understand what her point was. However, the way it was presented was good. Although it might not have had the best rhyme to it still presented its point and its point in the inauguration.
