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Kamala Harris and the Indian-American Vote:

“Where were you at this important inflection moment?”

“They say that political activists are like comic book superheroes – they all have an origin story,” says Shekar Narasimhan, Chairman  and founder of AAPI Victory Fund, the first Asian SuperPac. “It’s a seminal moment that always changes the direction of your life that moves you from being a mild-mannered citizen to becoming an agent for change.”

For Narasimhan that moment of awakening came on August 11, 2006, when his young son who was working on a campaign in Virginia as a volunteer tracker was publicly demeaned and humiliated with a racial slur by a prominent US Senator.

Recalls Narasimhan, “That was the moment when I, and so many other fellow Indian Americans and immigrants finally woke up to a painful truth that we are perpetual foreigners in the country of our adoption.  Many of us have accepted some racism, some discrimination and that was simply the price that we had to pay for immigrating to a new country. But we never imagined that our children and our grandchildren would have to keep paying this toll in the land of their birth.”

Yet on August 11, 2020, Narasimhan had a very different experience. “I will always remember it as the day that Joe Biden put his faith in a woman, an Indian American and African American to represent and to lead this nation. That is the day that he made Kamala Harris a manifestation of our American dream.”

The nomination of Senator Kamala Harris to be the second most powerful person in the United States has excited Indian-Americans, African-Americans and all minorities and women, making them aware of the doors that have opened for them. For young South Asian girls the possibilities of the future seem limitless.

We take a look at different Indian-American and Asian organizations that have sprung up to meet the moment and also to ensure that this possibility becomes a reality and that they do take the Biden-Harris ticket past the finish line, all the way to the White House. Along with AAPI, there are several other organizations which are harnessing the South Asian vote for Biden and Harris.

Indeed, the time of rising Indian American political engagement is ripe as they are part of the Asian American demographic, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country which made such  a difference in suburban house seats in 2018. An estimated 1.3 million Indian Americans are expected to vote in this year’s election, including nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan.

Some of these organizations are AAPI, IMPACT, South Asians for Biden,  TheySeeBlue, US-India Friendship Council,  South Asian Americans for Voter Education+ Engagement  +Empowerment (SAAVE) and South Asians of Michigan Organizing for Serious Action (SAMOSA).

Joe Biden has a number of South Asian leaders on the Unity Taskforce created with Bernie Sanders.  “This will have an impact on the Democratic Party platform for years to come,” says Neha Dewan, National Director of South Asians for Biden. “South Asians represent the second-most rapidly growing demographic group in America. In this critical election year, the South Asian community has a stake in key policy questions that affect our communities, and are deeply impacted by issues spanning immigration, civil rights, and healthcare.”

South Asians for Biden has also created a special Indians for Biden National Council headed by  Sanjeev Joshipura as director.  “We are on the cusp of a historic moment with the election of a ticket that features a Black and Indian American woman,” says Joshipura. “It’s up to us to educate and mobilize the community because the Indian American community’s future hinges upon this election.”

Indeed, South Asian Democrats are active not only in ensuring that the ticket wins on November 3, but also that the Democrats prevail up and down the ticket in the elections. As Narasimhan points out, “I want to recognize something that we tend to overlook in presidential politics sometimes- there are six elected state representatives and senators of Indian-American origin, many of them in battleground states.”

IMPACT which is one of the leading Indian-American advocacy organizations announced that it is endorsing 23 candidates in the upcoming general elections.  In a virtual town hall IMPACT Director Neil Makhija said, “There are 70 Indian Americans running nationwide today, and we’ve selected 24 candidates that we really want to put our weight behind through contributions, volunteering and  grassroots organization.”

As he points out, “What’s incredible is that in 2012 we had one Indian American member of congress Ami Bera in California, in 2016 that increased fivefold. Our community did not increase our population by fivefold in those four years. What happened is that we increased our engagement.  We have an incredible slate of candidates who are Indian American, many of whom are first or second generation, and we aspire to engage and bring our community together to have a say in American public life and in government.”

Besides, the top Biden-Harris ticket, the endorsements include Indian-Americans from Congress to statewide and local offices. For Congress, Ami Bera (US CA-07), Pramila Jayapal (US WA-07) ,Ro Khanna (US CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (US IL-08) are up for re-election and Sri Kulkarni (US TX-22) Hiral Tipirneni (US AZ-06) and Sara Gideon (Maine Senate) are the new faces.

In the statewide and local offices, IMPACT is endorsing several Indian-American candidates in a variety of political offices including Nina Ahmad (PA Auditor General)Ronnie Chatterji (NC Treasurer), Jay Chaudhuri (NC SD-15), Jeremy Cooney (NY SD-56), Nima Kulkarni (KY HD-40), Padma Kuppa (MI HD-41), and Rupande Mehta (NJ SD-25).

Indeed, it is heartening to see so many Indian names on the roster and in so many different states and offices across the board. Other candidates  include Pavan Parikh (OH Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas), Jennifer Rajkumar (NY HD-38),Kesha Ram (VT SD-Chittendon), Ravi Sandill (TX DJ 127), Nikil Saval (PA SD-01), Amish Shah (AZ HD-24), Vandana Slatter (WA HD-48,1) and Kevin Thomas(NY SD-06)

In one of several virtual meetings with Indian-Americans through these organizations, Kamala Harris while talking of her Indian heritage emphasized that what we have in common is so much more than what divides us, and the love of country that we all share.

“Years from now, our children and our grandchildren and others will ask us, ‘Where were you at that inflection moment?’” she said. “And our answer to that question will not simply be about how we felt – our answer will be what we did to participate, what we did to give back, what we did to give forward, what we did to stand up, to bring lightness where there may be darkness, and to do it all in the name of those things that we hold sacred and dear.”

(This article first appeared in my weekly column India in America on CNBCTV18.com)

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