CHICAGO (AP) — If you think you see a lot of women in white on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, you don’t have to move your television.
When the female delegates and their supporters arrived at the United Center on Thursday afternoon, it appeared to be a coordinated action: The security checkpoints and seats in the convention hall filled with women in white suits, dresses and other garments.
So when Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic nomination for president—becoming the first black woman and only the second woman overall to do so—her gaze will be upon a sea colored by the color of women’s suffrage, the movement that culminated in 1920 with American women gaining the right to vote.
The homage is a couture reminiscence of other significant political events in which women in white played a role, particularly other “Glass Ceiling” moments.
Hillary Clinton wore a white suit when she accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2016. And Geraldine Ferraro – the first female vice presidential candidate – wore white when she accepted that nomination at the 1984 Democratic National Convention.
It’s the fourth and final day of the DNC. Here’s what you need to know:
There were other moments too. In 2019, the women of the US House of Representatives a visible sign of solidarity during the State of the Union address, accompanied by some of their male colleagues who wore white jackets or ribbons in support. A year later, on the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, Congresswomen again wore white clothing as a sign of their commitment to defending women’s rights overall.
And earlier this year, the Democratic Women’s Caucus again announced that many of its members would wear white to the State of the Union address, which was intended as a message of support for reproductive rights.
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You can reach Meg Kinnard at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
