In Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Indian Americans want more opportunities to connectPosted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2019-02-19 20:38Z by Steven |
In Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Indian Americans want more opportunities to connect
NBC News
2019-02-12
 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., at a rally launching her presidential campaign on Jan. 27 in Oakland, California. Noah Berger / AFP – Getty Images |
While the California Democrat has caught the eyes of South Asian voters, some say her ethnic background isn’t enough for them to identify with her.
Shiv Dass, 82, recalls fondly the time he met Hillary Clinton when she visited Jackson Heights, in the Queens borough of New York City, while campaigning in the 2016 presidential election.
Dass, the owner of Lavanya, an Indian apparel store on 74th Street for almost a quarter century, described the Clintons as having a close relationship with the Indian-American community, owing in part to what he said was Bill Clinton’s support of India when he was president.
Now that a woman with Indian roots, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is running in the 2020 presidential race, Dass, a Democrat, will have some decisions to make.
“I am proud that she is Indian, but I will not support her because she is Indian,” Dass, who immigrated to the United States in 1966, said. “I will support her if she is good for us, good for the country.”
Harris, who kicked off her campaign in her hometown of Oakland in late January, was born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She supports policies such as Medicare for all, debt-free college, and a tax cut that will benefit working families…
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