IT'S WIERD that the community Kamala Harris should easily connect with doesn't know who she is.
If Harris runs for president in 2020, she needs to shore up her standing among Indian Americans specifically and with Asian Americans, in general.
Most national media identify the California senator as an African American and treat the Indian American half of her as an afterthought.
If you want to get technical, some segments of the African American community mmight not claim her since her father is an immigrant from Jamaica so she might suffer the same criticism some hurled at Obama who grew up in Hawaii among Asians and Pacific Islanders, Some African Americans said Obama didn't grow up African American.
Of course, that all changed when he got the Democratic nomination. He became more African American until the community claimed him as one of their own.
The same process could befall Harris. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, used to bring Harris and her sister to india every summer to expose them to that side of their heritage. Meanwhile, in the liberal East Bay of Oakland and Berkeley, their mother celebrated Sunday services with African American Baptists. When it was time to attend college, Harris did her undergraduate studies at Howard University, an historically black college.
Even with her high profile as the highest elected Indian American in U.S. politics, a significant percentage of Indian American registered voters have either never heard, don’t know, or have an unfavorable opinion of Harris.
The 2018 Asian American Voter Survey carried out by Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (IAPI Vote) and AAPI Data just before the Nov. 6 elections, shows that over the last 12 months, at least 22 percent of registered Indian American voters contributed to a political campaign, the same level as Filipino Americans. Ninety percent of Indian American voters said they would cast ballots last month.
The survey showed that 46 percent of Indian Americans had negative opinions about Harris, 20 percent of Indian American voters have “never heard” of Harris and 10 percent “don’t know” how they feel.
It's not like Harris has avoided the subject of her mixed heritage. She has recently headlined a fundraising gala organized by – Pratham, a non-profit involved in education projects in India, where she gave the keynote speech.
She addressed Impact, a new group encouraging Indian Americans to get involved in the political system. In the gathering of over 200 Indian-American candidates, which included elected officials, philanthropists, community leaders and other interested parties, she said, “Let’s speak the truth. This country was founded by immigrants. Unless you’re native American or your ancestors were kidnapped and brought over on a slave ship, you people are immigrants.”
“It’s a collective fight,” she said.
Harris spoke about her family. She shared that her mother was born in India and reminisced about her grandfather, who was a freedom fighter “I’m trying to remember what some of the slogans were when my grandfather participated in India’s independence because I am sure that some of those apply to what is going on with today’s world,” she said.
She also campaigned in Arizona for Indian American Congressional candidates, Hiral Tipirneni and Anita Malik, who lost to their GOP opponents on Nov. 6.
Despite her efforts, most of the time, she is still identified as an African American politician with no mention of her South Asian heritage.
The survey showed that 46 percent of Indian Americans had negative opinions about Harris, 20 percent of Indian American voters have “never heard” of Harris and 10 percent “don’t know” how they feel.
It's not like Harris has avoided the subject of her mixed heritage. She has recently headlined a fundraising gala organized by – Pratham, a non-profit involved in education projects in India, where she gave the keynote speech.
She addressed Impact, a new group encouraging Indian Americans to get involved in the political system. In the gathering of over 200 Indian-American candidates, which included elected officials, philanthropists, community leaders and other interested parties, she said, “Let’s speak the truth. This country was founded by immigrants. Unless you’re native American or your ancestors were kidnapped and brought over on a slave ship, you people are immigrants.”
“It’s a collective fight,” she said.
Harris spoke about her family. She shared that her mother was born in India and reminisced about her grandfather, who was a freedom fighter “I’m trying to remember what some of the slogans were when my grandfather participated in India’s independence because I am sure that some of those apply to what is going on with today’s world,” she said.
She also campaigned in Arizona for Indian American Congressional candidates, Hiral Tipirneni and Anita Malik, who lost to their GOP opponents on Nov. 6.
Despite her efforts, most of the time, she is still identified as an African American politician with no mention of her South Asian heritage.
Beside mainstream media's oversight, the other reason for her less noted connection to to Asian Americans may be because the Democrats have not put a whole lot of effort to reach out to Asian Americans. The same APIA study showed that 60 percent of Indian Americans say they were “not at all” contacted by the Democrats.
Just a note: Republicans didn't do much better -- 62% of Asian American voters were not contacted by the GOP.
Just a note: Republicans didn't do much better -- 62% of Asian American voters were not contacted by the GOP.
Indian Americans, have even more reason to feel neglected. Only 22% of Indian Americans said they had been contacted “a great deal” by the Democratic Party in the past year, and 24 percent said they had “some” contact, and another 10 percent that said “a little.”
“If Harris is going to tap into the Indian-American community for financial help, she is going to have to do more,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor at University of California, Riverside, and founder of AAPI Data.
Although she has said she will announce her decision about 2020 during the holidays, people are writing articles like she will run -- that includes this one.
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“If Harris is going to tap into the Indian-American community for financial help, she is going to have to do more,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor at University of California, Riverside, and founder of AAPI Data.
Although she has said she will announce her decision about 2020 during the holidays, people are writing articles like she will run -- that includes this one.
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