Yankees and Indians: South Asians becoming more visible in U.S. politics

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Now, a record six South Asians – all Democrats – will be running for U.S. Congress in this November's mid-term elections.
They comprise Surya Yalamanchili in Ohio and Manan Trivedi in Pennsylvania – both of whom have received the Democratic nomination for their respective congressional districts.
The other four – Raj Goyle in Kansas, Ami Bera in California, Ravi Sangisetty in Louisiana, and Reshma Saujani in New York – still must pass muster through what are expected to be difficult primaries. (Saujani is believed to be the first South Asian woman even to run for U.S. Congress).

Don T. Nakanishi, professor emeritus at department of Asian American Studies, UCLA, estimates that there are more than 2,000 Asian elected officials across the U.S., with the majority of Chinese and Japanese descent. However, he expects the Indian contingent to accelerate rapidly.

When Gary Locke, a Chinese-American, became governor of Washington in 1996, he was the first Asian-American governor of a state outside of Hawaii.

“The Indian community is highly educated and are particularly excelling in science, engineering in business,” said Pyong Gap Min, professor of sociology at Queens College in Queens, N.Y.
“But now I expect them to expand their participation in American politics in the years to come.”

Dino Teppara, chair of the Indian American Conservative Council and former chief of staff for Republican congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, was quoted as saying the increased political involvement by Indians is an indication of "successful assimilation into mainstream American society."

Jindal and Haley present a unique -- perhaps alternative -- perspective upon the South Asian experience in the U.S. Both are right-wing Conservative Republicans, both grew up in the Deep South, both altered their first names into something more Anglicized (from Piyush to 'Bobby'; and from Nimrata to 'Nikki'); and both converted to Christianity in their youths (Jindal, from Hinduism to Catholic; Haley, from Sikhism to Protestantism). Haley also dropped her Punjabi maiden name (Randhawa) in favor of her American husband's surname.

Of course, it is impossible to ascertain if these changes were enacted for future political purposes, or if they were the natural results of trying to assimilate into the wider society.

In any case, some Indian-Americans resent Jindal and Haley for such cultural 'transgressions,' thereby complicating the sense of pride and satisfaction they might otherwise feel in seeing their fellow countrymen ascend to such heights of political power in the U.S.

Nevertheless, the successes of Jindal and Haley have been nothing short of astounding.
In both Louisiana and South Carolina, Indian-Americans account for less than 0.5% of the total population and both are heavily Democratic states with long histories of racial conflict (indeed, Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke gained 44% of the vote when he ran for governor of Louisiana as recently as the early 1990s).

Jindal's resounding triumph in The Bayou State might have been facilitated by a decreased voter turnout (particularly in heavily black and Democratic New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina); and the unpopularity of the prior Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanco, who received much of the blame for the state's inadequate response to Katrina. Indeed, Jindal carried every single parish in the state, save for New Orleans. (Jindal had lost the governor's race to Blanco four years prior).

Incidentally, Jindal's victory was followed by the election of Louisiana Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao – the first Vietnamese-American in Congress.

Jindal was on the short-list of potential running mates during John McCain's 2008 run for the Presidency; and he is widely considered a serious contender for the White House in 2012 or thereafter.

Nakanishi thinks Jindal as president is a realistic possibility.
“Obama changed everything,” he said. “He changed the perception of what and who Americans are. Plus, Jindal is pretty popular in Louisiana and might have wide appeal across the country.

Indeed, the election of Barack Obama in 2008 will likely make a potential Jindal presidency seem less revolutionary, but would nonetheless represent a watershed moment in Asian-American history – much John F. Kennedy's election in 1960 represented a seminal moment and turning point for Irish Americans and for Catholics as a whole.

Also, should Haley win the governor's chair in South Carolina, her national aspirations will also heighten, raising rumors of a Presidential run in the not-too-distant future. (She is presently polling well ahead of her challenger, South Carolina Democrat Vincent Sheheen).
Asian-Americans as a whole account for about 5 percent of the total U.S. population currently, and are projected by The U.S. Census Bureau to represent 8 percent by 2050. In states like New York, New York and California, Asians already account for a substantial portion of the populace.

It would seem a natural development for more Indian-Americans to run for high political office, even at the expense of more lucrative careers in the private sector. However, as long as the U.S. remains a majority White Christian nation, Indian politicians seeking the broadest possible appeal may have to continue to keep their ethnicity subdued (or at least irrelevant) in their quest for greater acceptance effectiveness and influence.