Word: jindalã
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...track record of supporting permanent military presence in Iraq, legislating against a woman’s right to an abortion, allowing government surveillance without a warrant, upholding tough immigration enforcement, shooting down gun control laws, and prohibiting human embryonic stem cell research. Indeed, the main reason Bobby Jindal??the state’s first minority governor since Reconstruction—catapulted to victory was that he was so utterly indistinguishable from the mostly white voting base...
This is not to say that Indians in the States don’t have their doubts about Jindal; some do. For many, though, any qualms over Jindal??s neoconservative politics are overcome by pride in his brown skin and the progress this supposedly signifies. Unfortunately, this perception is mostly wishful thinking. Unlike the immigrant families I know who still proudly hang diwali lanterns and shop at the local Bharat Bazaar, Jindal has done the best he can to assimilate by erasing his cultural origins. Changing his name as a child from the Punjabi Piyush to that...
This raises an unsettling question: does a minority have to “act white” to get elected? As is the case with many politicians, it’s hard to discern Jindal??s genuine beliefs from statements designed to cater to the average Louisiana voter. Although his broad platform promise to “end corruption in Louisiana” is universally appealing, you can bet that the more extreme viewpoints he dishes up to white Republicans get omitted from the soothing “heritage” speeches he gives at Indian-American fundraising...
...trace the effect of racial issues on government all the way from the civil rights movement to the debate over Barack Obama’s “electability” raging today. Whether or not the Indian vote actually affected the election, however (the magnitude of Jindal??s victory makes it unlikely), it’s a pity that so many influential members of the Indian community unquestioningly followed the lead of a man with whom they shared only superficial similarities...
Reactions to Jindal by Indians in the homeland have been more negative than those in the American Diaspora. But the mentality there, as well as here, is telling. Following the news of Jindal??s win, the Times of India telephoned Bobby’s cousin Gulshan. “It’s a great honor not just for our family, but Punjab and the nation as well, [for] the son of this soil [to] have achieved something really big,” he said. Meanwhile, celebrations were erupting in Jindal??s ancestral village of Khanpura...