Election will shape future of Indian Americans
India Post News Service
NEW YORK: As the Indian American community increasingly becomes significant in mainstream politics, a demographic that is fast assuming a vocal as well as visible presence is that of the second generation Indian Americans. Young Indian Americans have not only been making a mark in prominent positions on Capitol Hill, but also in Presidential and other electoral campaigns across the country. The views of some these 20-something Americans of Indian origin perhaps represent the rest of their ilk in this country.
‘My generation worries over education’
Niki Shah is the NJ and National Outreach Coordinator for South Asians for Obama. With a M.S. in Global Affairs, International Law, he works as Assistant Project Manager at Rutgers University, Newark. As an introduction to himself, “I work in politics” he says. His perception of the political awareness among his generation is exhaustive.
“Second generation Indian Americans are broadly aware and informed of the policies and plans proposed by the two presidential candidates, on economy, energy, healthcare, and immigration.” Broadly, he believes, Indian Americans acknowledge that they are struggling on many fronts: the economy is weak; folks are struggling to keep their jobs; struggling to pay rent or home mortgage; struggling to obtain or maintain health insurance.
But the community in general needs to be engaged in the political discourse—to voice their opinions and issues—to bring collective change, he feels. “Without active participation, we cannot as a society expect change to come at our doorstep. The community has to work hard for the change and there are quite a number of young Indian Americans who are willing to engage on behalf of the community.” Although South Asians seem to lean towards the Democratic Party, Shah says there are quite a few who believe in Republican values. “I believe in progressive reform and Democrats have brought significant change in the lives of ordinary citizens—those who belong to middle class.
We need to be able to strike a balance between extreme conservatives and moderate conservatives—because what the conservatives have proposed on issues like abortion are not the solution,” Shah says. Every generation has their own concerns and issues, he says. “My parents’ generation may have faced issues that relate to immigration and immigrant experience. My generation is overburdened with the cost of education. We want a decent education but the attached cost may outweigh the long-term benefits.
We (second generation) are more concerned with the economy and lack of jobs or being able to purchase a new home or car. But then these issues affect communities across the board.” As for Indo-US relations Shah thinks both first and second generation Indian Americans are on the same page. “The Indian American community has a vested interest in a strong partnership between India and the US. For example, the support US-India nuclear agreement has received from the Indian American community is moving. I want to assist in resolving the Kashmir issue. We want a strong and vibrant India and Pakistan that can cohabit based on shared history, principals and values. And there are many who share the same views.”
In the post-election scenario, Shah is hopeful that South Asians will play a critical role in the next administration, especially in an Obama Administration. Given today’s political/economic/social conditions in the US, Shah, as a young Indian American, is most concerned with the cost of education, job and economic insecurity, lack of cost-effective healthcare, and most importantly, “this war in Iraq”. “But then there are global issues to keep in mind,” he says expansively. “There are many children in India and around the globe that don’t have access to sanitation or health care—let alone education. We need to bring better education to the isolated areas in the Indian subcontinent; bring sex education and financial literacy projects in different parts of India; empower women in India to break away from social norms to climb the social ladder—which speak to the concept of self-determination.”
‘Community needs to be recognized on national scale’
Toral Patel is a community advocate and an independent public relations consultant. A Political Science graduate, this 28 year old has worked in the South Asian Outreach of the New Jersey government. Patel thinks children tend to be politically aware if their parents are so inclined. “I have also seen second generation Indian Americans become politically involved, through a moment in their lives that peaked their interest - be it a politics class in high school, volunteering on a local election or being convinced by a friend to join them stuffing letters at the local congressman’s office.
Once they see their participation as playing an integral part of a campaign (even if they’re not voting age), the ability to choose their future simply becomes a part of their lives,” she says. “South Asians in general and Indian Americans in particular have always been seen as leaning Democratic, but in fact, they is a large portion of South Asians/Indian Americans that are either Republican or simply undecideds and that stems from several factors that I think have been building for some years now and needs to be addressed by either party frankly, without taking the vote for granted,” Patel says. “Personally, I have always been a member of the Democratic Party because I believe in equality for everyone – socio-economically, culturally, religiously, on a women’s right to choose, for the gay community.”
Indian American families being close knit, Patel thinks whatever struggles and concerns the parents faced, have been communicated to the children. “It goes to the value of immigrant children’s lives here in the US - how different things are for us, how easier things are and without knowing how much our parents worked to get to this point, I don’t think younger Indian Americans can fully appreciate our place in this community,” she says. “Until our community is equally recognized on a national scale with adequate representation from the local to federal level - the community as a whole, from our parents to us, is faced with practically what our parents did when they came here 20, 30, 40 years ago,” she adds. “That being said, younger Indian Americans are also facing issues and dealing with things that their parents did not and that defines them as Americans as well as Indians.” As for Indo-US relations, Patel says she became interested because of her personal connection to India, having visited every other year growing up.
“Now, with the advent of satellite TV, it’s hard not to stay up-to-date on what is going on in India as well as on Indo-US relations. On the other end, there are also folks in my generation that really just don’t see the value of what’s going on ‘over there’,” Patel says. Given today’s political/economic/social conditions in the US, Patel says she sees the same struggles as any other American – “where will I be in another year, is my job safe; will I be able to continue to save and build a retirement fund for myself or will I have to tap into that savings....I don’t think my concerns are any different from that of my neighbor or uncle and I think that’s a part of the beauty of this country (though I wish I was commenting on ‘how our surplus or economic boom will affect me’).”
‘Social justice & legal rights for immigrants’
Bhavini Doshi, 25, is a Political Science graduate from Rutgers University and is currently working as a legal intern for a not-for-profit immigration services organization. As a political activist, she has observed that there is a small minority of second generation Indian Americans that take a strong interest in the political process and are actively engaged in political campaigns or issues. However, she says, “Most second generation Indian Americans seem to have a better understanding of the major issues affecting the country rather than the political parties’ differing approaches to them…probably just like many other Americans.”
Doshi says she has always considered herself a liberal because of her views on social justice, environmental concerns, reproductive rights and fairness in education, “all issues the Democratic candidates generally fight for.” Coming from a politically aware family, Doshi says she shares the same concerns as her parents, such as the availability of future educational and economic opportunities. “We also want to live in a country where we can be proud of our Indian roots while also feel like patriotic Americans.
Like them (parents), I feel that it is important that this country appreciates our diversity and enables us to feel safe and welcome as we go between both cultures.” Doshi thinks second generation Indian Americans view Indo-US relations more objectively than their parents because generally they have been physically and perhaps emotionally distanced from the affects of US policy decisions towards India, and vice-versa. Doshi feels since many Indian American youth tend to lean towards the Democratic Party, it is natural that Senator Obama will draw more of them to Capitol Hill. “I think that more Indian American youth will be interested in working in the White House and/or on the Hill if they can work on issues that they relate with. Moreover, Senator Obama has already acknowledged the Indian Americans who are politically involved by having several of them to help organize his national presidential campaign,” she adds.
The issues that concern Doshi most include reproductive rights, the environment and moving towards renewable sources of energy, social justice and legal rights for immigrant populations, improvement in the quality of the educational and public school systems, affordable, and accessible and better quality health-care for everyone.
‘Viewing the world from two cultures’
Shashi Dholandas, 24, is a politically active law student, who’s had previous professional experience in public affairs and government relations. Dholandas says South Asian Americans have become increasingly engaged with the political environment, which is positive for the community as a whole. “Unfortunately, a lot of this increase has to do with the political and economic downturn that the United States has been facing in recent years,” he adds. “Another reason for the increased involvement is due to greater numbers of South Asians starting to turn to professions and study programs that require a higher level of socio-economic understanding and political savvy. Rather than studying biology, engineering, and computer science; increasing numbers of South Asian students are beginning to explore the fields of political science, international relations and economics.” As for party affiliation, Dholandas thinks nationwide, South Asians and East Asians are rather evenly split in their support of the Democratic and Republican parties.
The Indian American population is increasing its recognition as a political force within both Democratic and Republican circles, he observes. Younger Indian Americans, according to him, are in a unique position in regard to the issues they identify themselves with. “We’ve grown up with two cultures, Indian and American. This allows us to view the world from both the immigrant perspective of our parents and understand the wider scope of issues that affect Americans in general,” he says. However, as for rooting for Indo-US relations, he thinks it depends on the individual and their family. “Some families are much more vocal on their ideas of US-Indian relations than others. This obviously has an effect on how second generation Indian Americans view US policy in regard to India. However, those who do take a personal interest in politics understand the importance of the two countries continuing to build relations.”
But the issues that concern him the most as a young Indian American are the current state of the economy and the US standing in the international arena. “I’ll be out of law school in a few years, and it would be nice to know that the job market isn’t falling apart,” he says.
‘Concern over outsourcing, shrinking job market’
Chandana Rao describes herself as a “concerned citizen”. A lawyer by training, she is a Democrat and an Obama supporter. It was Obama’s push to young Americans and immigrants alike to join the political movement through innovative and fun ways that they identify with – like the Internet – that has encouraged many among even South Asian youth. In any case, second generation Indian Americans are “much more politically aware than what we expect of them,” she says. Indian American youth either born or brought up in this country do not necessarily relate to the issues that concerned their parents, Rao says. “Our parents were more concerned about assimilating into the American society with respect to economics. However, Indian American kids are much more comfortable on the identity issues.
They do not feel the need to “fit in” at the same level as their parents may have felt.” Second generation Indian Americans tend to relate to the need for strong Indo-US ties only as they grow older, Rao says. “When in high school they may not find much connection to India except for may be the pop culture. But as they get older they understand what it means to be of Indian origin and the political aspects of Indo-US relations.” Even if they do actively understand the need for engagement between the two countries, Rao says, Indian American youth tend to identify more with the issues as Americans and not from the Indian angle, as their parents tend to do. As for the current issues plaguing the US, Rao says the impact of outsourcing, the shrinking job market, cost of education and the economy as a whole concerns her the most.
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