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VOL. CLXIX . ...No. 58,783 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020 $3.00 HARRIS JOINS BIDEN TICKET, ACHIEVING A FIRST Political Warrior NEWS ANALYSIS Woman of Color Shaped by Life Pick Seen as Safe in No. 2 Slot of In 2 Worlds but Energizing Major Party

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER By JONATHAN MARTIN By ALEXANDER BURNS and LISA LERER and ASTEAD W. HERNDON and KATIE GLUECK Kamala Harris’s first act as a WASHINGTON — In naming Joseph R. Biden Jr. selected political candidate was knocking Kamala Harris as his running Senator Kamala Harris of Califor- out a former boxer: the progres- mate, Joseph R. Biden Jr. made a nia as his vice-presidential run- sive San Francisco district attor- groundbreaking decision, picking ning mate on Tuesday, embracing ney who had been her boss. a woman of color to be vice presi- a former rival who sharply criti- Her freshman Senate term has dent and, possibly, a successor in cized him in the Democratic pri- been defined by committee per- the White House someday. Yet in maries but emerged after ending formances so lacerating that some ways, Mr. Biden made a her campaign as a vocal supporter Trump administration officials conventional choice: elevating a of Mr. Biden’s and a prominent ad- have complained of her lawyerly senator who brings generational vocate of racial-justice legislation velocity. “I’m not able to be rushed and coastal balance to the Demo- after the killing of George Floyd in this fast,” a flustered Jeff Sessions cratic ticket and shares his cen- late May. once said to her. “It makes me ner- ter-left politics at a time of pro- Ms. Harris, 55, is the first Black vous.” gressive change in the party. woman and the first person of In- And in Ms. Harris’s most memo- Unlike Barack Obama and dian descent to be nominated for rable turn as a presidential con- George W. Bush, who selected national office by a major party, tender, speaking with practiced veteran Washington hands as and only the fourth woman in U.S. precision to the man who on Tues- their vice presidents, Mr. Biden, history to be chosen for a presi- day chose her as his running 77, is opting for a time-honored dential ticket. She brings to the mate, she began with a less than model in which running mates race a far more vigorous cam- charitable disclaimer — “I do not are not just governing partners paign style than Mr. Biden’s, in- believe you are a racist” — before but political understudies of cluding a gift for capturing mo- flattening him with the “but . . . ” sorts. Pegged as a rising star for ments of raw political electricity “It was a debate,” she has said a decade, but with less than four on the debate stage and else- repeatedly since then, offering no years of experience in the Senate where, and a personal identity apology for campaign combat. — she was 8 years old when Mr. and family story that many find That is San Francisco politics, Biden was first elected to the inspiring. friends say. That is Kamala Devi chamber — Ms. Harris, 55, re- Mr. Biden announced the selec- Harris. flects a traditional archetype in tion over text message and in a fol- In announcing Ms. Harris, 55, an election year that has been low-up email to supporters: “Joe as his vice-presidential nominee, anything but normal. Biden here. Big news: I’ve chosen Joseph R. Biden Jr. told support- She is also a thoroughly estab- Kamala Harris as my running ers she was the person best lishment-friendly figure, as is Mr. mate. Together, with you, we’re equipped to “take this fight” to Biden: Both have hewed closely going to beat Trump.” The two are President Trump, making space to their party’s mainstream for expected to appear together in in a campaign premised on restor- years, shifting left with the times Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday. ing American decency for a will- but always with an eye on the ing brawler who learned early in broader electorate and higher After her own presidential bid her career that fortune would not office. He long said he wanted disintegrated last year, many favor the meek among Black someone “simpatico” with him Democrats regarded Ms. Harris women in her lines of work. and, in Ms. Harris, he found that as all but certain to try for another “She had to be savvy to find a person, at least when it comes to run for the White House in the fu- way,” said Senator Cory Booker of ideology. ture. By choosing her as his politi- New Jersey, who has known Ms. Progressive Democrats now cal partner, Mr. Biden, if he wins, Harris for more than two decades. find themselves led by two mod- may well be anointing her as the “There was no path laid out for erates with relatively cautious de facto leader of the party in four her. She had to find her way political instincts, even as activ- or eight years. through the kind of set of obsta- ist energy courses through the A pragmatic moderate who cles that most people in the posi- party and left-wing challengers spent most of her career as a pros- tions that she’s held have not had unseat some incumbents. The ecutor, Ms. Harris was seen to ever deal with.” mostly young protesters filling throughout the vice-presidential It is this dexterity, people close the streets of nearly every Amer- search as among the safest to her say, that has most powered ican city to decry police brutality choices available to Mr. Biden. Ms. Harris’s rise — and can be and President Trump are repre- She has been a reliable ally of the most frustrating to those who sented by two figures who have Democratic establishment, with wish her electoral fearlessness offered sympathetic words and flexible policy priorities that were accompanied by policy au- proposals but whose careers largely mirror Mr. Biden’s, and dacity to match. have been shaped by their rela- her supporters argued that she Caustic when she needs to be tionship with law enforcement. could reinforce Mr. Biden’s appeal but cautious on substantive issues “She’s not of the far left of the to Black voters and women with- more often than many liberals party, she’s a former prosecutor,” out stirring particularly vehe- would like, Ms. Harris has spent Janet Napolitano, the former ment opposition on the right or her public life negotiating dis- Arizona governor and Homeland left. parate orbits, fluent in both activ- DANIEL ACKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Security secretary, said of Ms. While she endorsed a number of Continued on Page A16 Senator Kamala Harris, an establishment-friendly Democrat, has long been considered a rising star. Continued on Page A15 Continued on Page A14

Bible-Burning Video Goes Viral, In a Black Chicago Community, Two Leagues Decide Not to Play, A Win for Russia Disinformation Doubt Defies Hope for Change Roiling College Football Season

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG Early Evidence Moscow By ASTEAD W. HERNDON Historic Shift on Race By ALAN BLINDER Other Top Conferences and JULIAN E. BARNES and BILLY WITZ CHICAGO — The old guard of WASHINGTON — For some of Has 2020 Campaign this city’s Roseland neighbor- or Just ‘the Topic of Two of the nation’s wealthiest, Planning to Compete President Trump’s loudest cheer- hood, a community on the South most powerful college football leaders, it was a story too good to Up and Running Side famous for molding a young the Moment’? conferences, the Big Ten and the in the Fall, for Now check out: Black Lives Matters Barack Obama and infamous for Pac-12, abandoned their plans to protesters in Portland, Ore., had its current blight, has never for- play this fall over coronavirus burned a stack of Bibles, and then a bigger fire. None of the other gotten the fruit trees. land tells a different story about concerns, a move that fractured Playing at this stage of the pan- topped off the fire with American protesters seemed to notice or Back in the 1970s, before the full that same American dream, and the season and promised reper- demic, though, presented “too flags. There was even a video to care. exodus of white residents, the ero- the place for Black people within cussions far beyond the playing much uncertainty, too much risk,” field, even as other top leagues prove it. Yet in the rush to paint all the sion of local businesses, the crack it. The fruit trees have been re- Kevin Warren, the Big Ten com- were publicly poised to begin The story was a near-perfect fit protesters as Bible-burning zeal- epidemic of the 1980s and the dis- placed with overgrown lots. Resi- missioner, said in an interview on games next month. for a central Trump campaign ots, few of the politicians or com- investment that followed, it was dents say gangs use the aban- Tuesday. talking point — that with liberals the trees that signaled the societal The decisions by the two confer- mentators who weighed in on the doned areas to stockpile weapons, “You have to listen to your med- and Democrats comes godless elevation of Black families — sep- ences extended the greatest crisis incident took the time to look into which children sometimes find. ical experts,” Warren said. disorder — and it went viral arating those who moved here in the history of college athletics, a the story’s veracity, or to figure The police are omnipresent, a “There’s a lot of emotion involved among Republicans within hours from the urban high rises they multibillion-dollar industry that out that it had originated with a source of comfort for those who with this, but when you look at the of appearing this month. The New fled. An apple tree greeted An- depends heavily on football to un- Kremlin-backed video news believe they deter crime, and an health and well-being of our stu- York Post wrote about it, as did toine Dobine’s family in 1973, he derwrite lower-profile sports and instigator for others who say they The Federalist, saying that the agency. And now, days later, the said. The tree meant a yard. A which provides universities with a dent-athletes, I feel very confident protesters had shown “their true Portland Bible burnings appear to yard meant a home. And a home perpetuate abuse. national profile they use to recruit that we made the right decision.” colors.” Senator Ted Cruz, the be one of the first viral Russian meant a slice of the American But more than anything, it’s the students and attract donations. The moves by both leagues Texas Republican, said of the pro- disinformation hits of the 2020 dream, long deferred for Black consistency of the neighborhood’s By canceling games this au- came after intense deliberations testers, “This is who they are.” presidential campaign. Americans. struggle that bothers its tight-knit tumn, the two conferences defied among university presidents and Donald Trump Jr., the president’s With Election Day drawing “Pear trees, peaches, apples, it group of activists, who are skepti- calls by coaches, players and chancellors, but the decisions son, tweeted that antifa had closer, the Russian efforts to influ- was beautiful,” Mr. Dobine re- cal that the nation’s current focus President Trump to mount a sea- were not universally supported by moved to “the book burning ence the vote appear to be well un- called. “Before the white people on racial injustice will mean tangi- son in the face of the virus’s large- administrators, coaches and play- phase.” derway. American intelligence of- left.” ble improvements in the lives of ly unchecked spread. The plans of ers. The truth was far more mun- ficials said last week that Russia Today, as activism against ra- those who most need it. other leading leagues to start “This is an incredibly sad day dane. A few protesters among the was using a range of techniques to cial inequities raises questions of White Democrats have often playing by late September could for our student-athletes, who have many thousands appear to have denigrate Democrats and their whether anything will actually been the opponents of these local now quickly change, and the Big worked so hard and been so vig- burned a single Bible — and possi- presumptive presidential nomi- change for many Black Ameri- leaders in the deep-blue world of Ten and Pac-12 may ultimately ilant fighting against this pan- bly a second — for kindling to start Continued on Page A22 cans, Mr. Dobine’s street in Rose- Continued on Page A21 move their seasons to the spring. Continued on Page A9

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9 SPORTSWEDNESDAY B8-10 FOOD D1-8 Putin Says Russia Has a Vaccine Finding Refuge in a Game Far More Than Grilled Meat The country is the first to approve a Bergamo, a proud Italian city hit hard In the Mexican state of Sonora, carne possible vaccine against the virus, by the coronavirus, has found unity and asada is a weekly ritual, a tight-knit despite warnings from global authori- solace in its overachieving and title- gathering of friends and family. PAGE D1 ties against cutting corners. PAGE A6 chasing soccer team. PAGE B8 Not Giving Up on 2020 NATIONAL A13-23 Retail Chains Exit Manhattan BUSINESS B1-7 ARTS C1-7 There’s no indoor dining yet, but the Restaurants and stores are closing in Miami chef Niven Patel has opened a Seattle Police Chief Resigns the city, which has been emptied of The Risk of Eating Out A Full-Body Scream Caribbean-inspired restaurant. PAGE D1 After city officials approved drastic cuts office workers and tourists. PAGE A8 Bars and restaurants have become a Jonathan Majors stars in HBO’s horror to the force, its top officer, Carmen Best, focal point for clusters of Covid-19 infec- series “Lovecraft Country,” which isn’t EDITORIAL, OP-ED A24-25 said she “can’t do it.” PAGE A19 tions across the country. PAGE B1 afraid to take on racial injustice. PAGE C1 INTERNATIONAL A10-12 Frank Bruni PAGE A25 Smelling Blood on Payroll Tax Thai Students Protest Military Taking On a Workplace Taboo Rescuing a W.P.A. Mural The president’s call to cut taxes that Thousands of young people are chan- Zomato, a global food-delivery company A Black nurse who saved lives in 19th fund Social Security has opened a line neling Harry Potter as they call on the based in India, drew praise for introduc- century California may now be saving a of attack for Democrats. PAGE A20 army to get out of politics. PAGE A10 ing paid leave for periods. PAGE B6 piece of art in San Francisco. PAGE C1 U(D54G1D)y+@!%!%!$!z