Indian-Americans have been steadily rising in politics and elected office for decades now, but 2024 may be viewed as the election they arrived as a national force — from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy duking it out for the Republican nomination to Vice President Kamala Harris en route to becoming the first Indian-American to secure a major party nomination.
With that rise, I’ve noticed an increase in attacks from the left and the right on the Twitters regarding their Indian heritage — particular Trump MAGA influencers from the right, and progressive activists from the other side hitting both for being from Tamil Brahmin families.
So I reached out to Richa Karmarkar of Religion News Service to parse it all out. Karmarkar covers Hinduism for RNS, which is a great resource for anyone unfamiliar with their work. She has written extensively on issues facing Indian-Americans, including, recently, Harris and Hinduism in the Caribbean and the rightward shift of Indian-Americans including Usha Vance.
(Of note, after we recorded this interview, former president Donald Trump attacked Harris in an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, saying that Harris wanted to be seen as Indian first then later as Black — which is inaccurate.)
Show notes:
For the layperson, what are castes?
Why are online trolls attacking candidates like Ramaswamy and Harris for their families’ Brahmin heritage?
For “TamBrahms” Tamil Brahmins, immigration to the U.S. can cause an uproar among other Indians who chastise them as having the means to immigrate
For Nikki Haley, whose family is Sikh, there is a separate history of castes and complications arising from that
An attempt by California lawmakers to ban caste discrimination recently pushed the issue of historic caste tensions to the forefront
For many Indians, coming to the U.S. included wanting to leave the caste system behind
Indian-Americans are really having a moment in American politics, decades after the first big waves of immigration from India
Hindu political and advocacy groups are starting to gain prominence on the national stage
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