An (Indian-)American Dilemma

For most of Indian-Americans’ lives, we were taught that Republicans were the party of racists, bible-thumping Evangelicals, and the haters of the poor and minorities; while Democrats were the party of sanity, uniting America, and standing up for minorities. Now things look a bit more fuzzy. Like most 20-something Indian Americans, I voted for Barack Obama. He was polished, an outstanding speaker, a symbol of hope, and a Democrat. It was an easy choice even as John McCain was an excellent candidate in his own right.

I think Obama did a fine job during his 8 years considering his circumstances. There are a few flash points of disagreement (mostly on foreign policy and his handling of the bailouts), but that was fine. We shouldn’t expect our representatives to mirror our policy stances 100%. It just leads to hatred, judgement, and disappointment. In addition, he was an astute statesman, had excellent demeanor, and a statement to all minorities that they too could become president of the beautiful United States of America.

Being an Indian-American Democrat was easy in Obama’s time. The racist evangelical wing of the Republicans were in full screech as a pillar of the opposition that drowned out much the majority of more moderate and sensible Republicans. The media was the 4th pillar of his government so many of the policies (strong immigration stances, “muslim” ban, droning, etc…) that Trump gets lambasted for now, were ignored during Obama’s term. Obama increased ties with India and even had a strong friendship with the newly elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Identity politics were kept low and Obama really did live up as a uniting force in America.

But under the mask of ease were the scars of 2008’s Great Recession; something that many Americans, especially in America’s heartland still suffered from.

How We Got Here

2016 had several undercurrents that lead us to Trump’s victory and the situation today:

1. Lower middle-class and poor white rural voters were still suffering from the Great Recession. They did not feel as if their lives had improved much since then and carried disgust from the Wall Street bailouts.
2. Bernie’s economic populism was neutralized by Hillary’s establishment connections but more interestingly, the rise of rabid identity politics. Antagonizing white males became a norm amongst her supporters and media counterparts; a demographic that made up a large portion of the aforementioned rural white voters. These voters were the backbone of older Democrats, painting their district blue election after election.
3. Trump now positioned himself as an “outsider” and played strong to the electoral college by usurping many of these disaffected rural whites. He had a solid foundation of Republicans who were disgusted with Hillary or would just vote red either way. Again, many of these people were incensed by the Democrat’s identity politics.

With the shock of Hillary’s loss, a new progressive upsurge occurred in the Democratic party, combining the rabid social ideologies of the Hillary camp with Bernie’s economic movement. The first test of this new wing of Democrats came in the 2018 midterms – results were mixed but more so a failure. While the far left “Squad” (AOC, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley) get much of the coverage since then, most of the Democratic winners and flipped seats came from more moderate ideological positions. This disconnect is still not realized on the debate stage where far left policies dominate the conversation while moderate positions among leading candidates are absent save Joe Biden.

The Democrats have doubled down on hysterical social positions such as open borders, reparations, and divisive identity politics just to remove Trump and be beholden to extremists in their party. Even sensible positions such as a stronger border, a citizenship question on the census, and the basic right of free speech have been attacked as racist and bigoted.

Betrayal

The Far Left has dominated the conversation in the Democratic Party for the past few years. Revolving around the idols of identity politics, social justice (actually just revenge/hatred), and economic envy, they have used social media, academia, and pure political energy to match the polarization of many of Trump’s extreme right wing supporters. The Far Left has become just like the 17th century Puritans in that they will name, shame, and ostracize you just for disagreeing with their position or not meeting their purity test.

Antifa has morphed its free speech silencing into violence across college campuses. Big Tech increasingly finds key censorship and algorithmic positions being influenced by left leaning operators. A miasma of callout culture, discouragement of discourse, and aversion towards “agree to disagree” has enveloped the American Left.

While I have always had an aversion towards America’s Far Right (Fundings missionaries/terrorism in India, support of white supremacy, and their general dislike of minorities), I have found myself more dismayed by what the Far Left is doing. I think it comes from a sense of betrayal from my old expectations of binary politics (Democrats good, Republicans bad) as well as the Far Left’s disdain for India.

Indians (or more accurately Hindus) are not a “protected” or “oppressed” minority on the Far Left checklist of America. The economic success of Indian-Americans have defied the lowered expectations of these frequently upper-class, white elites and has in turn even threatened their positions as more and more Indian-Americans find themselves in positions of prestige, wealth, and leadership.

While one expects racist headlines to come out of Fox News, they have been fairly silent or ambivalent on India while Left leaning outlets post flat out colonial pieces reeking of racism, privilege, and bigotry when talking about India or Hinduism. This culminated recently with attacks on Democratic nominee Tulsi Gabbard (for her Hindu faith) as well as with the histrionics amongst the Indian Elections. It’s hard to identify with Democrats when their media, establishment, and politicians keep espousing anti-Indian and anti-Hindu views. If anything, Trump has continued Obama’s tilt towards a positive relationship with India while Far Left outlets increasingly are giving India the Israel treatment.

It all simply feels like a betrayal.

Forward

Recently, “The Squad” went toe to toe with Nancy Pelosi with AOC accusing her of being harboring racist feelings towards her and her fellow freshman as they were PoC women. Finally, moderate Democrats spoke up, many of whom were non-white, to defend Pelosi against this insane allegation. Pelosi has traded barbs with the Squad several times, but many times would cave and have to cover for their extreme comments. She found herself in their books as a simmering fissure emerged in the Democratic Party.

Add to the fact that the Squad is deeply unpopular amongst swing voters (AOC has a 22% favorability rating, while Omar has a 9% favorability rating) who may decide the 2020 elections, and a potential crisis emerges with their continued airtime.

Enter Trump, who wanted to capitalize on this issue and fired off a round of tweets, one of which referred to certain “Progressive Democrats” to “go back to their country;” a refrain many minorities have heard come out of a racist’s mouth in their day to day lives. This type of rhetoric is an anathema to many Indian-Americans who would admire the Republican’s business friendly policies, low taxes, conservative values, etc… (Keep in mind, Indian-Americans vote overwhelmingly Democrat). The racism of the Far Right prevents a section of minorities from joining ranks and contributing to the overall conservative moment.

Now Trump has sought to force the Democrat’s face. Will they allow the Squad to dictate and dominate the headlines in their party? Or will they distance themselves from them? By forcing the Squad to become the forefront of the Democrats, Trump strikes his best chance at reelection.

I don’t see either the far right or far left as domestically positive for most Americans, let alone Indian-Americans. As Indian-Americans gain capital and influence, political doors will open. The need for a powerful pro-India lobby is strong and opportune as Indians have become the highest-earning income ethnic group; while back in India, a strong government has formed and decisively changed the story and direction of India, which has lamented in the past due to a scattershot national ideal and policy failure.

Like Jews, Indians have no refuge currently amongst the extremities of US politics; but moderate Republicans and Democrats may have a better alternative. It’s just they need to capture the political power and positioning.

Personally, I believe the Democrats need to go in the direction of Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard. These candidates generally espouse a leftward economic shift along with a rightward social shift (or just not insane social policies and rhetoric). They bring the energy of unity and bipartisanship to a deeply divided country. Even Biden who wants to continue much of Obama’s legacy would provide a positive choice. While Trump’s Republican approval rating is outstanding, a moderate Republican such as Nikki Haley or Rand Paul may be a better choice to repair the division that has characterized these past few years. Neither Trump’s or the Squad’s theatrics and level of discourse are positive for this country.

The United States must rediscover its sense of pluralism, freedom of thought, and unity that made it so great. America must return back to its great maxim – E Pluribus Unum – Out of many, one.