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The promising Kamala Harris
She understands the uniquely South Asian ways of being and is able to relate to the shared experience of all immigrants.
File photo / Reuters
After a few twists and turns, the 2024 election cycle has landed us with one of the most qualified presidential candidates in history against a three-time candidate and prior incumbent. From District Attorney to Attorney General, US Senator to Vice President, Kamala Devi Harris, has been a constant champion of opportunity and justice.
If elected in November, she will bring a lifetime of experience in public service. And she will be a trailblazing candidate of firsts–the first South Asian and Black woman ever to hold this office.
We are a nation built of and by immigrants. As an immigrant, I have benefitted from the opportunity that this country offers–and am committed to making sure this is afforded to all. But as we know, it has been an imperfect journey. From the 1790 Naturalization Act which barred non-white people from citizenship to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which attempted to regulate immigration along racial lines and the 1942 internment of Japanese Americans, attitudes towards non-White immigrants–including South Asians–has been troubled and unjust.
Kamala Harris comes from immigrant parents from India and Jamaica. Her parents fought for racial justice in the Civil Rights Movement–-which had profound implications for the Asian American community in the United States. The Voting Rights Act of 1965–-a landmark victory instigated by the Civil Rights Movement-–removed critical barriers to Asian Americans’ ability to enter this country and gain full citizenship.
What ensued is the growth in Asian immigration. Asian Americans have been the fastest-growing group of eligible voters in the United States over roughly the past two decades. Today, Indians- Americans constitute the largest immigrant group in the Asian diaspora. However, we are exercising our right to vote less than any other diaspora. Our voting bloc is growing; I trace it in part, to the fear and loathing that Donald Trump’s policies engendered in our community, the outreach of organizations like AAPI Victory Fund, and a robust political advocacy movement at the state level.
Kamala’s candidacy is powerful on many levels. For the Asian American community, which has struggled to battle a myth of universal excellence (“model minority”) while seeing so many in our community struggle with a lack of opportunity and overt hate, this is a particularly momentous time. Representation matters, on many levels. She understands the uniquely South Asian ways of being and is able to relate to the shared experience of all immigrants. And as President, she would enable all members of our community, especially our youngest, to see themselves in this country’s future in a new light.
A projected 15 million Asian Americans will be eligible to vote this year. In the seven battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin, there are 1.7 million eligible Asian American voters (400,000 of whom are Indian American). Ten percent of these are newly eligible voters and a whopping 25 percent could be voting for the first time ever. Given that the 2020 election was won by slim margins-–45,000 in three States and 385,000 in all seven battlegrounds–-it’s clear that Asian Americans will be the reason for victory and Indian Americans can provide the margin.
As Vinod Khosla said of Trump, “(Its) hard for me to support someone with no values, lies, cheats, rapes, demeans women, hates immigrants like me. He may cut my taxes or reduce some regulation but that is no reason to accept depravity in his personal values…Do you want his example for your kids as values?”
There is real energy and momentum in the South Asian community this election cycle. We are diverse by language, food, religion, geography etc., but the vast majority of Indian Americans who I speak to understand that we share core values with one another and Vice President Kamala Harris. And that their vote matters.
Therefore, we need to get out and vote for Kamala this November. Start with making sure you are registered to vote, at iwillvote.com. Make sure your friends and family are using the Reach app–and help organize a group to get them registered and to the polls. Get into your WhatsApp groups and make sure people know they should vote; join one of the volunteer phone banks or mail postcards or text messages--basically, do something! The moment is now to engage. The stakes couldn’t be higher, every vote matters–our power is in our vote. and that we can help make history.
The author is the Chairman and Founder of AAPI Victory Fund, which mobilizes voters from Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of New India Abroad)
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