Thursday, June 10, 2010

Liberals, Ethnicity, and Those of Indian Descent

Why has no Indian-American liberal risen as high in the Democratic ranks as Jindal and Haley have done in the GOP? Could it be that because Democrats put more of an emphasis on identity politics, an Indian-American Democrat would have to contend with other ethnic constituencies that might think that it’s ‘their turn’ first? And once you go down the ‘identity’ route, your success as a politician tends to rest more on the weight of numbers—the size of your ethnic constituency, or your racial voting bloc—than on the weight of your ideas. The most striking thing about Jindal and Haley’s success is not that they are Indian-American politicians who have triumphed in conservative Southern states, but that they are conservative Southern politicians who just happen to be Indian American. link


Those racist Southerners!

2 comments:

allen (in Michigan) said...

In the Democrat's defense, they've done very well creating, exacerbating and exploiting the differences between people.

Ellen K said...

I think it is more likely that Asians and Indians, whose cultures honor both family and education as a means to honor the family, are just too far apart from mainstream Democrat "minority" attitudes. Asians and Indian parents do not make excuses for their children's failure as a general rule. They do not blame the system or individuals in the system. Nor do they expect the system to sustain them. As such, Asians and Indian are much more at home in the conservative wings than the DNC.