It’s not easy to remain calm and collected in the glare of intense public scrutiny, especially when the opposition is set on

denying your integrity, competence and accomplishments.

But call it grace, poise or dignity, Kamala Harris has managed to make a positive case for her candidacy every day since

President Biden endorsed her to take his place on the Democratic ticket.

Think about it: No presidential nominees in modern history have faced such a direct challenge to the authenticity of their

identity and by extension their qualifications to be the president.

I can tell you with confidence that the various and sundry racist, misogynist and sexist insults hurled at Ms. Harris must sting.

They are a reminder of the disgraceful lengths that Republican senators took to shame me when I challenged Clarence

Thomas’s fitness to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

What helped me stay composed was knowing that I was not the first woman to have her sanity, truthfulness and virtue

falsely impugned.

Even now, when I am attacked, my mother’s firm but gentle admonition rings in my ears:

“You know who you are and what you can do.”

Lesson learned: Never let the people who despise you define you.

One key to surviving under such pressure is to forcefully embrace the value of your own capabilities and principles.

“Don’t be confined to other people’s perception about what this looks like, and how you should act in order to be,

” Ms. Harris said this year.

That posture is evident in the clarity and directness with which she states her qualifications for the presidency.

During their debate last month, when Ms. Harris exposed Donald Trump’s weaknesses without lowering herself to his level,

the strength of her dignity was made even more obvious.

She told us that she knew “Donald Trump’s type,” and she proved her point without self-congratulations.

One facet of Vice President Harris’s dignity is her recognition of the right of others to be treated with respect.

Take Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s remark that “my kids keep me humble.

Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”

Ms. Sanders’s statement was a clumsy attempt to alienate Ms. Harris from women with children.

Ms. Harris responded by showing her commitment to valuing all women.

She spoke with heart about her love of being a stepmother to two children.

And she reminded us that women are routinely made aware of our own shortcomings and limitations

— whether or not we have kids.

Truth be told, “dignity” and many similar words are loaded.

We rarely talk about men’s grace, particularly in the political arena.

We often save that conversation for women, perhaps because a man’s leadership worthiness is assumed, while a woman has to

prove herself highly competent to lead.

In today’s politics, hubris, dissembling, anger, fearmongering and personal grievances are brandished and accepted as proof

of power, confidence and competence.

Equanimity itself is preyed upon as a sign of weakness.

Take the combative interview — more like a public clash — conducted by Fox News’s Bret Baier with Ms. Harris,

as more than seven million people watched.

Ms. Harris was resolute.

Yet Mr. Baier’s constant interruptions and his talking down to and over Ms. Harris were irritatingly familiar.

I’ve heard countless stories of those who, because of their gender, sex, race, sexuality or ethnicity, routinely experience the

same in our workplaces and other public forums.

Maintaining integrity in politics can be a hard needle to thread.

Ms. Harris must defend herself against the assaults and also vigorously prosecute the case against Mr. Trump.

In taking the approach she has, I think Ms. Harris is doing something notable: She is letting us know what she values by

talking about the humanity of others.

She has spoken movingly about the caregiving that she gave her mother during her treatment for cancer and how

“it’s aboutdignity for that individual.”

The story Ms. Harris tells about her high school friend Wanda is a story of dignity and agency, both Wanda’s and hers.

Ms. Harris sought her mother’s permission for Wanda to live with the Harris family, because Wanda’s stepfather was

molesting her.

As I see the story, Wanda gained safety as well as a chance to restore authority over her own body.

And Ms. Harris experienced the honor that comes from helping someone else and learned the importance of acting on her

instincts about right and wrong.

In her nomination speech, Ms. Harris paired dignity with housing policy and reproductive health care.

On the stump she touts workplace safety and wage policies as her effort to fight “for the dignity of all working people” and to

allowevery senior to “retire with dignity.”

She has also shown how maintaining respect for her constituents figures into her policies and vision for the future.

By focusing on the humanity of people whom her domestic policies will affect — women seeking abortions and other

reproductive health care, people struggling to afford a home down payment, workers struggling with the cost of living and

taxes — Ms. Harris creates chances for more dignity for everyone, regardless of party.

Perhaps that same focus on humanity will shape Ms. Harris’s international policy to address the plight of people around the

globe suffering from devastating droughts, displacement and armed conflicts.

As president and a former officer of the court, Ms. Harris could take on a major challenge — restoring reputational respect

for our legal system.

It will require the rebuilding of confidence in our Supreme Court’s willingness to protect basic rights enshrined in our laws

and in legal precedent that makes clear that we have moved beyond the historical understandings that freedom, rights and

liberty are limited to the powerful and rich.

In a recent poll, many Americans say they lack trust in the Supreme Court.

Indeed, both confidence in and approval of the court are both at near historical lows.

As president and a former leader of the Senate, Ms. Harris could use her bully pulpit to advocate for ethics reform,

or expansion of the court, and use her authority to nominate justices to the court who will help restore its dignity.

And we cannot dismiss the idea of changing the judicial confirmation procedures and processes for vetting nominees,

points of overlap of presidential, Senate and judicial interests.

The American public needs assurance that the court is not simply the tool of wealthy men and organizations whose favor

justices enjoy.

We can make that claim only if the court commits to the principle that no one is above the rule of law.

Since the making of the U.S. Constitution, people in this country have voiced their yearning to enjoy the rights,

privileges and immunities it offers.

Their appeals make up a uniquely American songbook that each American president has inherited.

It is filled with lyrics that reflect the sovereignty claims of Indigenous populations and the freedom petitions of those who

arrived from other continents, some in chains.

In time, the rights movements grew, led by those whose ancestors suffered the incomparable indignity of chattel slavery and

those who were denied full citizenship and enfranchisement because of their race, gender, ethnicity, or gender or sexual

identity.

And today, those drawn to the American democracy to escape violence and political and economic death add to the appeals.

As the poet Langston Hughes reminded us, they “too, sing America” and share a common theme of the recognition

of human decency.

If Ms. Harris is elected president, she will be in a unique position to ensure that all of these songs are reflected in our

democracy and the structures that govern it.

And whatever the result of Election Day, she has already introduced an American political future that promises a recognition

of human dignity as its bedrock.

She has earned the opportunity to make that future a reality.

By Anita Hill