Kamala Harris isn't just a first. She'll be one of the most powerful VPs ever.

When Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are sworn in as senators from Georgia on Wednesday, they won't just put Democrats in control of the chamber. They'll also make Kamala Harris the most powerful vice president in years — and the most powerful Black or Asian woman in American history. And that power was granted to her by the hard work of Black women in Georgia.

For many years, the prevailing wisdom has been the office of the vice president is incidental to real power in Washington. Because vice presidents do not have executive authority and cannot "legislate" from the bully pulpit the same way presidents can, each administration gets to decide how much, or how little, the vice president is involved in decision-making. Vice President Dick Cheney was the recent exception to the usual rule: He not only served as President George W. Bush's chief adviser but was unapologetic in his advocacy of violence against America's enemies and unafraid of using torture techniques to secure domestic safety. The security apparatus he built remains. His "quiet power" was enabled, in part, because he had a willing co-conspirator in Bush — but also because there was nothing unusual about a White man with a lot of power. For Harris, though, an enormous amount of scrutiny will be coming soon.

Because Harris is the first Black, South Asian, graduate of a historically Black university, member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and woman to hold the office, there is a lot of attention on her and the type of executive partner she will be for Joe Biden. The American people have already gotten a glimpse of her in action in Senate hearings and on the campaign trail where her performances were instantly meme-able. She became a sensation, and if her past performance is any indication, she will not be content to simply be the president's cheerleader. It is expected that Harris will be Biden's partner in all things.

Fittingly, it was Black people of Georgia who turned the political world on its axis again. Not only was Black turnout comparable to the general election, Warnock and Ossoff saw their share of the Black vote increase between November and January. In fact, Georgians cast more votes in the 2021 Senate runoff than they did in 2012, when President Barack Obama was running for reelection. And now the person with the power will be a Black and South Asian woman; the child of immigrants holding all of the proverbial marbles. The framers did not provide much in the way of responsibilities for the vice president other than to preside over the Senate. But Article II of the Constitution says the vice president "shall have no vote, unless [the Senators] be equally divided." This power was pivotal when Bush took office in 2001, when Cheney provided the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate to give Republicans control and ease the Bush agenda's passage through Congress. Harris not only has the opportunity to do the same, but in a moment of even deeper partisan polarization, it is likely she will be called on to break ties in the Senate on a more regular basis than her predecessors.

The specter of this Black woman with all of this power has not been lost on congressional Trump supporters or the partisan opportunists who attempted to use every trick in the book to deny the victory of this historic ticket by disenfranchising voters in heavily Black districts. When that didn't work, they simply threw the book out and weaponized White anger. From the moment it looked like Harris would be Biden's vice-presidential nominee, there have been wild conspiracies that he would simply be a puppet to Harris's "radical agenda." These pernicious falsehoods mirror similar attacks made against other women of color, like "the Squad," who are portrayed as a threat because they're constantly depicted as having outsized power.

Of course, not every Republican went along with the effort, but that is cold comfort for those of us who have seen the machinations of White people too often determine our own life chances. The charade of 2020 — indeed, of the last four years — was never about democracy, election integrity or the protection of our so-called values. It was about keeping people who look like Harris from being able to pull the levers of power. Because a Vice President Harris affirms their deepest fears that they will reap the America they have sown for so many others. We don't yet know what she'll do with the power Georgia voters have given her. But at least we know she won't be the type of vice president who will stand idly by as the Oval Office is abused.

Carter is the author of "American While Black: Race, Immigration, and the Limits of Citizenship" and an associate professor of political science at Howard University. This piece was written for The Washington Post.