The importance of Kamala Harris’s South Asian heritage
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 02, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 02, 2022
The importance of Kamala Harris’s South Asian heritage

Thoughts

Neil Makhija,Foreign Policy
14 August, 2020, 10:05 am
Last modified: 14 August, 2020, 10:16 am

Related News

  • Biden supports F-16 sale to Turkey, is confident about congressional approval
  • Biden unlikely to meet bold Democrat demands after abortion ruling, sources say
  • Biden suspends rules limiting immigrant arrest, deportation
  • Biden urges G7 to stay together as leaders target Russian gold, oil price
  • PM Hasina invites US President Joe Biden to visit Bangladesh

The importance of Kamala Harris’s South Asian heritage

The media often underplays the fact that Biden’s vice presidential pick has an Indian mother. Her heritage could play a crucial role in US foreign policy

Neil Makhija,Foreign Policy
14 August, 2020, 10:05 am
Last modified: 14 August, 2020, 10:16 am
Then Vice President Joe Biden talks with Senator Kamala Harris and her aunt, Sarala  Gopalan, during a swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on Jan. 3, 2016. PHOTO: TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL/FOREIGN POLICY
Then Vice President Joe Biden talks with Senator Kamala Harris and her aunt, Sarala Gopalan, during a swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on Jan. 3, 2016. PHOTO: TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL/FOREIGN POLICY

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate has been rightly hailed as historic: If elected, she would be the first female vice president of the United States as well as the first Black woman to hold that office. But what's getting less attention in global media is the fact that Harris will also be the first vice president of South Asian heritage—and to Indian Americans like myself that is inspiring but also instructive.

How might Harris's South Asian identity shape a Biden administration's foreign-policy agenda? To tackle global problems, the United States needs a leader with a global mindset. As the daughter of an immigrant from Chennai, in southern India, it's likely that Harris will share a perspective on foreign policy that looks at the world's two largest democracies as critical allies. And while that lens of partnership could play a role in U.S.-China relations, on matters related to immigration, technology, trade, and defense, it will perhaps be most important in confronting the urgent threat of climate change, a challenge that previous U.S. governments have not achieved enough on and that the United States has regressed on under the administration of President Donald Trump.

There are more than 4 million people of Indian origin in the United States, and while they are not a monolith, they share a common heritage and many experiences that shape their perspective. Most are relatively new to the country and retain ties to family and loved ones in India. On the whole, they tend to be a highly educated and scientifically oriented demographic—many Indian immigrants arrived in the United States on H-1B visas for highly skilled tech workers. Indian Americans comprise one of the highest-earning demographics in the United States, with a median household income of around $100,000, according to the Pew Research Center.

These immigrants have generally voted Democratic in recent elections: About 77 percent voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But more importantly, they tend to care deeply about climate change, not only because they believe in science but because they hear the stories of the devastating effects of extreme weather from relatives in India and its neighboring countries. They also know that climate change was the biggest challenge confronting the planet before the coronavirus pandemic and that it will be the biggest challenge facing the world once Covid-19 is—eventually—behind us.

Indian Americans see, perhaps more than most, how the world has changed over the past two decades. When I was growing up, trips with my family to India meant me and my sisters packing ourselves into the single room in my grandmother's home that had air conditioning. Today, I can order a latte from a Starbucks in Mumbai with the air conditioning blasting so hard it gives me the chills. The growing Indian middle class is an economic miracle in many ways. But Indian Americans also share an acute understanding that if rapidly developing countries like India and China burn cheap coal to fuel their growth the way the United States did, there won't be a world for children in any country to inherit.

What Indian Americans want is for the United States to lead the path to a clean energy future that serves them at home and also leads to sustainable development abroad. They want an administration that cooperates with India and China on these critical issues and supports policies that improve living conditions around the world.

A Biden-Harris administration would build on the successes of the Obama-Biden administration, undo the damages of the Trump administration, and work to reestablish and strengthen the Paris climate agreement.

Consider also the Trump administration's policies regarding immigrants. After campaigning on building a medieval wall on the U.S. southern border and banning Muslims, the Trump administration enacted a slew of policies hostile to immigrants from all parts of the world, including India. This summer, the Trump administration suspended H-1B visas, pulling the rug out from under 525,000 workers, most of them of South Asian origin. In every instance, Harris confronted Trump's nativism, criticizing his policies of putting "babies in cages" and reminding us that "their children are our children," as well as introducing legislation to remove national caps on H-1B visas that lead to lengthy delays for Indian immigrants seeking green cards.

Indian Americans know—just as a Biden-Harris administration will—that sensible immigration reform will also be integral to addressing major global challenges such as climate change, because the United States cannot lead the world when it is turning its back on its best talent, and because the only way for the country to succeed in building a future resilient to climate change is to welcome those from around the world who have great ideas and the work ethic to make them a reality.

Harris understands these issues personally. Her mother came to the United States to do cancer research and earn her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. She is part of the generation of Indians—like my father—who came to the United States because they saw it as a place to learn, a place to grow, a place to improve the world, and a place to work hard and have a good life.


Neil Makhija is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and the executive director of IMPACT, a civic organization that helps recruit, train, and elect Indian Americans at all levels of government.


Disclaimer: This article first appeared on foreignpolicy.com, and is published by special syndication arrangement.

Top News

Kamala Harris / South Asian / Heritage / Joe Biden

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • In rain, heat, filth – they fight against cancer
    In rain, heat, filth – they fight against cancer
  • Tejgaon Industrial Area has become an illegal parking lot for all kinds of vehicles, from buses to trucks to rickshaws. Photo: Mumit M
    Rickshaw garages and truck stands: How Tejgaon Industrial Area turned into a mess
  • TBS Illustration
    Universities may launch online classes again after Eid

MOST VIEWED

  • Sketch: TBS
    Remembering Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury : Freedom fighter and politician extraordinaire
  • Md Kafi Khan. Illustration: TBS
    How best to launch a digital banking scheme
  • Illustration: TBS
    Hydropower is a bad bargain
  • Tyler Cowen. Illustration: TBS
    Human rights on Mars won't be the same as those on Earth
  • Md. Liakath Ali. Sketch: TBS
    Time to reassess our disaster management capabilities
  • Sketch: TBS
    We are now in a global Cold War

Related News

  • Biden supports F-16 sale to Turkey, is confident about congressional approval
  • Biden unlikely to meet bold Democrat demands after abortion ruling, sources say
  • Biden suspends rules limiting immigrant arrest, deportation
  • Biden urges G7 to stay together as leaders target Russian gold, oil price
  • PM Hasina invites US President Joe Biden to visit Bangladesh

Features

The eye-catching commuter: Suzuki Gixxer SF 155

The eye-catching commuter: Suzuki Gixxer SF 155

56m | Wheels
Photo: Collected

Sapiens – A Graphic History 

22h | Book Review
Black-naped Monarch male  Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Black-naped Monarch: A sovereign who never abandoned the Indian subcontinent

23h | Panorama
The 136-year-old company on its last legs

The 136-year-old company on its last legs

1d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Dhaka University celebrating 102nd founding anniversary today

Dhaka University celebrating 102nd founding anniversary today

22h | Videos
Ctg Int'l Trade Fair returns after a 2-year hiatus without Covid restrictions

Ctg Int'l Trade Fair returns after a 2-year hiatus without Covid restrictions

23h | Videos
Bangladeshis among top 6 nationalities seeking asylum in Europe

Bangladeshis among top 6 nationalities seeking asylum in Europe

23h | Videos
RUET organises Robotronics 2.0

RUET organises Robotronics 2.0

1d | Videos

Most Read

1
Padma Bridge from satellite. Photo: Screengrab
Bangladesh

Padma Bridge from satellite 

2
Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'
Splash

Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'

3
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

Motorcycles banned on Padma Bridge 

4
Photo: Collected
Economy

Tech startup ShopUp bags $65m in Series B4 funding

5
World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years
Economy

World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years

6
Investor Hiru fined Tk2cr for market manipulation
Stocks

Investor Hiru fined Tk2cr for market manipulation

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab
BENEATH THE SURFACE
The Dazzling Fake Flowers: Is there any alternative to artificial flowers while decorating homes, showrooms, offices and business establishments? Fresh flowers are undoubtedly beautiful, but they dry out quickly. Hence, the demand for plastic flowers is rising day by day. Traders said these lifelike silk flowers usually come from China and Thailand. The photo was taken from the 29th International Trade Fair of the Chattogram Chamber on Friday. PHOTO: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net