Seeing Stars and Stripes

With President Barack Obama has also come the political awakening of American desis

With President Barack Obama has also come the political awakening of American desis

NOT ONLY do I think I’m a desi, but I’m a desi,” announced Senator Barack Obama in August 2007. That comment underscored what was perhaps a watershed moment in the Indian-American community’s journey to its current prominence on the US political stage.

Early on in his presidential campaign, Obama realised that by engaging Indian-Americans, he could tap into a huge reservoir of political goodwill from a vote bank that had largely operated on the political sidelines. This, unsurprisingly, also fit in with the Obama Administration’s emphasis on infotech and engineering as key enablers in the long road to economic recovery. Consider this op-ed written by Obama in a February 2008 issue of India Abroad. ‘I will be a President who draws upon the energy and expertise of the Indian-American community,’ he wrote. He went on to say that ‘together we can restore and vitalise America’s innovation-based economy’. Obama’s message clearly connected with thousands of Indian-Americans, predominantly doctors, engineers, lawyers and scientists.

At a political level, too, the Obama administration was a turning point for over two million Indian-Americans. For the first time, during the 2008 election, there was strong civic engagement from Indian-Americans, whether at the grassroots level or on the electoral platform.

The first Indian-American to represent his community was Dilip Singh Saund, who was elected as a Democratic representative to the US House of Representatives from California in the 1950s. Around that time, US immigration laws were relaxed. Though the number of immigrants from India grew, and despite the fact that the community has one of the highest rates of education and disposable income, many kept a low political profile. In fact, there was not even a clear sense of identity, or belonging, as Indian-Americans or desis till the latter part of the 1980s.

The current generation has, however, shown that they are not uncomfortable straddling their hyphenated existence. “It is a sort of growth of political consciousness,” says Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (Saalt), which is dedicated to fostering an environment in which South Asians in the US can participate in civic and political life. Is this the political coming-of-age of Indian-Americans?

Tradtionally, the community has voted Democratic. This is a trend confirmed by a 2008 National Asian American Survey—the first survey on the voting attitudes of Asian American minorities in presidential elections. It found that Indian-Americans supported Obama by more than a three-to-one ratio compared to John McCain. That support was clearly reflected in the number of young people who conducted door-to-door campaigns and tirelessly worked on phone banks. Perhaps the best known was Hollywood actor Kal Penn, who, as Iyer puts it, “stumped for Obama and raised money”.

Obama first connected with many immigrants with his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, in which he pointed out there was hope for a “skinny kid with a funny name”. It was a speech that propelled Washington DC lawyer Dave Kumar towards founding South Asians For Obama (Safa) in February 2007. Of course, there were organisations rooting for Republican candidate Senator McCain too, but it’s Obama who got the overwhelming support of Indian-Americans.

Nonetheless, the most high-profile Indian-American politician yet is Republican. For a moment, it even seemed Bobby Jindal may be chosen as a running mate of McCain. That did not happen, but there is now talk that he could be a presidential candidate in the 2012 race.

Others to watch out for are those who’ve run for various offices at the local and state levels. Last year, for instance, Suzie Nagpal won a seat to the city council of Saratoga, a wealthy enclave in the San Francisco Bay Area. And, Ash Kalra has become the first Indian-American in San Jose’s city council. Others, like Democratic candidate Paul Chadha, who ran for the Illinois State Assembly, and Republican Harmeet Dhillon, who ran for the California State Assembly, didn’t win, but remain very involved politically. Also creating waves is San Francisco district attorney Kamala Harris, who is running for the Attorney General’s post. A staunch Democrat, Harris had worked for Obama’s campaign.

After Obama was elected President, he appointed a team of close advisers to manage his transition to office. They helped select people based on their experience, loyalty, diversity of backgrounds and, refreshingly, diversity of views. In a first, an Indian-American, Sonal Shah, on a sabbatical from Google.org, was included in the transition team itself, a hint of things to come. She now heads the Office of Social Innovation.

Among Obama’s first appointments were a handful of Indian-Americans, many of whom were deeply involved in the campaign, and include a mix of lawyers, scientists and infotech workers. The most high profile was the nomination of CNN’s Sanjay Gupta to the post of Surgeon-General. Gupta withdrew his nomination, but had he been appointed, he would have been the first Indian-American Surgeon-General.

The Indian-American holding the highest position in the administration is Neal Katyal, a Yale alumnus and law professor from Georgetown University. He holds the post of Principal Deputy Solicitor General. Katyal first came into the limelight as the lead counsel in the Supreme Court case Hamdan vs Rumsfeld. He fought the case for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni national identified as Osama bin Laden’s driver, captured in Afghanistan and sent to Guantanamo Bay. His victory is considered a landmark in US history.

Then there is Preetha Bansal, who was named General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Management and Budget. Bansal, Obama’s friend from Harvard Law School, was previously New York State Solicitor General and had also served in the Clinton Administration.

Perhaps the biggest non-surprise was the appointment of Aneesh Chopra as the first Chief Technology Officer in a US administration. “Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities—from creating jobs and reducing healthcare costs to keeping our nation secure,” said Obama in a press statement. Previously, Chopra was Secretary of Technology for the Governor of Virginia. Both Chopra and Vivek Kundra, appointed Chief Information Officer, are expected to work on Obama’s technology goals.

Among others, Rajiv Shah was nominated Chief Scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture. Nick Rathod, co-founder of Saalt has been appointed director to the Office of Inter-governmental Affairs. Arti Rai, a professor of patent law at Duke University, is now member of the agency review team on science, technology, space, arts and humanities. And Parag Mehta is Deputy Director of Inter-governmental Affairs and Public Liaison for minority groups, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. There’s also Penn. As the White House’s Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison, he will connect with arts and entertainment groups as well as Asian-American communities.

Clearly, some skinny people with funny names are going a long way.

Kamla Bhatt is the host of an online radio show, The Kamla Show

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Kamla Bhatt