Either way, it's the end of the world...as we know it
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Early last week I was lucky enough to attend a Diwali celebration at the White House, casually attempting a small decolonization of the Green Room, in a green sari.
For me, this was one of those moments of celebrating our place as South Asians in America as I was joined by Pakistani and Sri Lankan American friends as well and many others who only culturally celebrate the holiday. At a time of potential darkness, it was nice to let a little light in.
I hesitated to publicize this because the nuance of attending the event vs. wholeheartedly endorsing the Biden administration can be lost on most people. I’m a journalist - I’m not endorsing the administration’s stance on Gaza, or any issue for that matter.
And of course, I had to get a picture with my President, Michelle Obama.
It was, according to those who had been invited in 2022, a relatively subdued celebration. Biden gave some short remarks as did Dr. Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General. I chose to focus on the fact that it was in my parents’ lifetime that people from the subcon were not allowed to immigrate here. It was during ours that we would hide Diwali, our home celebrations, our food at school, our full life from our non-desi friends. And here we are, marking a battle of good over evil in the most powerful building in the western world.
Not from the diaspora, but a really interesting thread about the U.S. and “Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay - a prominent figure in India’s independence movement, a guest of President Roosevelt at the White House, and a respected advocate for women’s rights.” The message is so interesting in the context of the latest survey results from Carnegie Endowment on Indian Americans, our community’s attitudes toward democracy, patriotism, seeing ourselves as people of color in solidarity with other POCs - and those who don’t.
This presidential election has been fraught, exhausting, and ultimately, one of the most important of our lives. I won’t tell you who to vote for but I think for people who care about women’s bodily autonomy - there is a clear choice. I won’t say that a third party vote is a vote for Trump because it may not be; it depends on the state and everyone should be able to make that choice on their own. However, I do wish that one day we may see a third party candidate who could actually carry the weight and breadth of the American presidency intellectually and diplomatically.
Either way, after the ballots are counted and verified it will be the end of the world….as we know it. And as much as I love R.E.M. and the scarily accurate predictions of The Simpsons’ writing staff, some of us may not be fine.
The world will see us elect Trump again and he’ll bring his signature word salads and unrelenting headline-making to every newsroom - the grind of which will drive many more of us to leave the politics beat and maybe even the profession. We’ll have signaled that open bigotry is tolerable as long as its done under the guise of the specific brand of aggressive patriotism the GOP has come to shape. Corporations may rejoice but what of the workers?
Or, we’ll have the first woman, the first Black women, the first Asian American person in the White House and have to contend with progressives and young men feeling ignored and silenced by the Democratic party, the changing meaning of representation for South Asians in America, the uncertainty of how The Right will react to seeing this, and four years of the often unrealistic and incomparable expectations she has been held to during her truncated campaign and what women of color - even in our own immigrant families - have been held to on a daily basis, for millennia.
This isn’t to say their administrations would look anything alike or be the end of democracy, but I think this year calls for an incredibly cautious outlook on the future of American politics to inure yourself from the shock of 2016.
Either way, it’s still the end of the world for thousands of children in Gaza whether either side wants to acknowledge that or not.
This Election Day is a vote for predictable chaos vs steady potential vs showing the rest of the country that third party candidates are consequential. It’s a vote for a mind that can’t finish a full sentence unless he’s in a deposition or one that is possibly open to thinking from different perspectives.
Unfortunately, there are many millennial voters who feel burned by the steady potential of Obama in 2008 and eight years later these voters were left feeling disappointed that he never quite lived up to that ‘hope and change’ hype. This has been a year - or really 100 days - of party re-branding and as much as test for the Democratic Party leadership as it is of Harris herself.
Whatever happens this week, we’ll have a new world to face and will have to make room for new definitions of patriotism, gender equality, community, and the American empire around the world.
Whatever happens this week, things will be different going forward domestically, internationally, and personally for all of us and disassociating or refusing to talk politics won’t change that.
That’s it from me today since I’m a KNOT of anxiety. And, if you haven’t already, GO VOTE! Down ticket races and ballot initiatives are crucial, too!
Here’s some more reading:
A must read - Indian Americans at the Ballot Box: Results From the 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey from Carnegie Endowment
From Sandhya Dirks for NPR, give a listen to/read her piece on how Sikhs marched across California urging protections against threats from India on U.S. soil in light of what has been happening in Canada.
Friend of Export Quality, of the Red, White, and Brown newsletter (go subscribe!) wrote about the impact of Indian American voters for New Lines magazine.
There has been a lot of dissonance this presidential election for Muslim voters, particularly women and Palestinian Americans, Georgia state legislator Ruwa Romman explained her stance to Jasmine Mithani for The 19th.
For Bloomberg, Saijel Kishan (with Simone Foxman) about how Indian Americans in swing states have become Democratic targets.
Indian Americans Are Excited For Harris. But Her Identity Is Not The Main Factor. - Huffington Post
As far as election night media: I will be watching with friends for commiseration purposes and to capture all the dark humor the internet will surely offer up. I know MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki’s map will be on rotation, as will the Associated Press account. Go follow and read/listen/watch the journalists I mention in my DNC newsletter issues here and here and here!
Also, FYI (in an email from the Harris campaign to potential canvassers)
