Indian American political representation is growing
As South Asian American populations continue to grow, so is the political representation across the U.S.
This post originally appeared on Red, White and Brown’s newsletter on Substack (Issue #55 sent on March 4, 2023).
There’s been a lot of chatter in Brown communities over the last few weeks about Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy running for president.
The high-profile names continue to dominate news feeds and WhatsApp groups. But did you know the youngest Democrat in the Illinois state House is a South Asian American?
POLITICO interviewed 23-year-old Nabeela Syed about her work as a state representative in Illinois. “My lived experiences inform my decision-making process because it continually reminds me that there are marginalized groups that need to be thought of and need to be heard,” Syed told POLITICO.
The New York Times also ran a front-page story this week about Indian American representation growing across U.S. politics. Some interesting tidbits from the Times article:
- “Notably, the increase in Indian American representation is not centered on districts where Indian Americans are a majority. [Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington] represents a Seattle-based district that is mostly white. [Representative Shri Thanedar of Michigan] represents a district in and around Detroit, a majority-Black city, and defeated eight Black candidates in a Democratic primary last year.”
- “I do think that the more we have diversity, the more the actual ideological views will be paramount,” Jayapal said. “Once we’re not sort of wowed by the fact that there’s an Indian American woman running for whatever office it is, I think we’ll be able to focus more on the actual ideas. And that should be the way it is.”
So while the stories linked above may not be breaking news to most, it’s still notable to point out growing South Asian American influence in politics… Especially since our communities still get ignored in some narratives, as AAPI Data pointed out recently and highlighted that “South Asians are the fastest growing group of Asian Americans.”
Also, a fun exchange between comedians Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng, which references Chieng’s controversial comments last year about defining “who is Asian”:
Since host Trevor Noah left “The Daily Show” a few months ago, various guests have been taking turns hosting the iconic program, including Minhaj — a former correspondent for the show.
I called it in 2016, and I’m calling it again: I bet a gulab jamun Minhaj will be named the next permanent host.
Vignesh Ramachandran is co-founder of Red, White and Brown Media, which facilitates substantive conversations through the lens of South Asian American race and identity — via journalism, social media and events. He’s on Twitter and Instagram via @VigneshR.
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