Congresswoman: Biden picking Harris 'another chapter in the end of white politics'

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., says Joe Biden's selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate represents "another step toward the end of white politics."

Lee said she thought it was the "beginning of the end of white politics" when she started working on campaigns, including Shirley Chisholm's presidential campaign in 1972. 

"I was a community worker with the Black Panther Party in the early 1970s, and I had class that I was going to flunk because we were supposed to work in a campaign," Lee said during the Netroots Conference on Friday evening. "I didn't flunk the class. I got involved with her [Chisholm's] campaign. I got an A and went on to Miami as a Shirley Chisholm delegate because I thought that then was the beginning of the end of white politics."

Lee also said the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign was another step toward the end of white politics.

"Fast toward to today, I think with Kamala this is another reason to read your book and understand what you're saying because it's another chapter in the end of white politics," Lee said, referencing a book written by political commentator and activist Zerlina Maxwell called The End of White Politics: How to Heal Our Liberal Divide.

Maxwell, who moderated the discussion with Lee, Democratic California Rep. Katie Porter and Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, argued that Biden selecting Harris was not a "safe choice" given that she's a female woman of color.