South Asian (Political) Persuasion

By Deval Patel SALDEF Media and Communication Intern
2008, about a decade ago, I would always get super excited whenever I saw a fellow South Asian out and about in my predominantly white city. 2012, during my high school years, my best friend and I were two out of six South Asian students within a student body of roughly 2,000 kids. 2018, nowadays, I can distinctly tell that the days of the rare South Asian sightings have come to an end because now it would be unusual for me to not see a fellow South Asian whenever I leave the house.
This phenomenon is due largely to the fact that the South Asian population in America is booming. It is one of the fastest growing minorities in the country, with a growth rate of 72%. With our minority group quickly becoming a majority in many areas of the United States, it is crucial that our government bodies also reflect our ever-expanding population.

One of the major concerns within the Asian-American community is the extremely low level of voter turnout that subsequently has not kept pace with our thriving community. This causes a paradox of an exponentially growing population, that has lower and lower voter turnout rates. However, there is hope. There are more South Asian representatives in politics now than ever before, for example, Congressman Ami Bera, Senator Kamala Harris, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Mayor Ravi Bhalla, UN representative Nikki Haley, Mayor Preet Didbal, just to name a few. Even though their ideologies range across the whole political spectrum (reflective of the political ideologies of South Asians), not much as been accomplished in terms of landmark achievements for the Asian-American community.
Our fellow Asian brothers and sisters still have to put up with hate crimes, discrimination, and ignorance. Why is it that we have one of the largest minority populations in the United States, yet so little is known about our cultures, religions, and identities? Yes, we may have a handful of representatives in government, but not nearly enough to educate the greater American population, or to give the South Asian community the exposure we need in order to combat the challenges that we face today.
Furthermore, South Asia is a diverse region of the world. Our community consists of Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Indians, with religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Sikhi as well as everything and anything in between or beyond. While we may have some representatives in office, the collection of them does not reflect the diverse South Asian population and the wide array of beliefs that we hold. That is why it is absolutely crucial that we go out and vote. The South Asian population needs to support candidates that are willing to advance our communities, and fight for our liberties — candidates who display our broad political ideologies and embrace our diversity.
We as a community need to recognize that we are Americans who deserve to have our voices heard and our battles fought on the political field. Groups that foster this development such as SALDEF’s SikhVOTE, and Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) are significant in promoting civic engagement and political life amongst our communities, therefore, we should do everything in our ability to support them and similar other groups whether it be through volunteering for voter registration drives, or making sure your friends and family vote in elections. It is intrinsically our duty to participate in civic society, vote, run for office, support campaigns, and share our opinions as equal American citizens.
