We’ve frequently documented in this space the rise of Indians and Indian-Americans in the C-suites of high-tech corporations. Somewhat less frequently, we’ve also touched upon a similar rise of that same ethnicity in U.S. politics and government.
The current V.P. in the Biden administration, Kamala Devi Harris, comes first to mind. Although self-identifying as black, Harris has more Indian ancestry than African: her mother, Gopalan Shyamala, was a native of Madras. Her Jamaican father, Donald J. Harris, like Kamala herself, is of mixed-race heritage, with ancestors that included both blacks and whites. (For example, Donald Harris claims descent from a Scots-Irish, slaveholding white man, Hamilton Brown.)
But enough of Kamala. It turns out there are lots more of her background rising in American political ranks. The NY Times identifies some:
- Nikki Haley (nee Nimarata Randhawa), born in South Carolina to Sikh parents hailing from the Punjab, now running for president as a Republican.
- Vivek Ramaswamy, also a first-generation American and also a Republican candidate for president. Ramaswamy’s parents came from Vadakkencherry, Palakkad, Kerala, India.
- Those two follow in the footsteps of yet another Indian-American Republican White House aspirant, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, former governor of Louisiana and presidental candidate in 2016.
On the Democratic side, there are (unsurprisingly) more:
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wa). Born in Chennai, India.
- Rep. Rohitt Khanna (D-Ca). Born in Philadelphia to Punjabi parents.
- Rep. Subramanian Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Il). Born in New Delhi.
- Rep. Amerish Babulal “Ami” Bera (D-Ca). Born to parents from the Gujarat state of India.
- Rep. Shri Shamal Thanedar (D-Mi). Born in Belgaum, India.
Other Indians and Indian-Americans not serving in government are active in politics:
- Vikram Mansharamani of New Hampshire is the child of Indian immigrants, currently supporting Haley’s candidacy.
- Harmeet Dhillon was born in Chandigarh, India to a Punjabi Sikh family, is a Republican National Committeewoman who recently contested the chairmanship of that committee with Ronna McDaniel.
Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, all these rising political stars have one thing in common: a shared ethnicity far removed from the American tradition and–as we have seen in business–one that has made nepotism a cultural keystone. It is important to keep that in mind when selecting candidates.
For more, see the NY Times.