“HELLO.”
“Well, that was a forceful ‘Hello’…”
“Sorry, Ma. You’ve called three times and each time I picked up, I heard nothing.”
“I have a bad connection, sorry…listen, I have a quick thing to ask you.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Should I vote?”
“WHAT?!”
“Is the primary important? Isn’t the election what matters?”
“Well…the primary is going to determine who will be in those elections, so yes it’s very important. Why are you even asking? GO VOTE, woman. Cheee!”
“I know…I should…”
“Then?”
“Well, I don’t know…”
“About what?”
“Why can’t I vote for who I want?”
“Ma. Clinton is on the ballot. What are you saying?”
“But I have to vote for a Democrat.”
“Ohhh, that-a-way. Yeah, it’s basically a closed primary.”
“That’s not fair.”
“DUDE. You were the one who was all drunk off HRC kool-aid a week ago.”
“I don’t like people telling me who to vote!”
Sigh.
“Ma. Go vote. It’s important.”
“Why?”
“Because California is the most awesome prize of them all. Don’t you want to have a say in that?”
“I guess.”
“A little less enthusiasm, you’re making me wince. Hmm, maybe it’s not a closed primary…wasn’t there something like Prop 189…hold on…oh, you know what, Mummy, it’s not closed–“
“YES IT IS!! They just said on the TV.”
“I’m skimming, I’m skimming…oh, you’re right. Okay fine, it’s a modified-closed…geez, I was a poli-sci major a looong time ago.”
“It’s closed. They said so on the news, right now.”
“Mom, seriously you are confusing me here with your waffling-“
“But what if…”
“What if WHAT, edi Ammay?” **
“What if I want…to…vote…for McCain?”
Sigh.
“You can’t, Ma. You’re a registered Dem. From whence cometh this desire to finally come out of the closet and betray the husband who ordered you to register Dem before you knew or gave two shits about what either party stood for?”
“I like McCain. I always have.”
“You like Hillary, too.”
“I know…but…”
“Ma, listen. It might be really close…I’m swamped with my report, so I’m not up on the latest counts, but I think I heard something about Hill taking her ‘home state’ of New York on NPR…”
“She has Florida, too!”
“Okay then. But remember, Obama is a rockstar with the youths, and with the imprimatur of the Kenned-“
“I STILL think that was wrong of them to do!”
“Ma. Focus. Obama could win. You really don’t like him. That…means…get…off…the…phone…and vote.”
“I guess…I just don’t know.”
“Mommy, I have to go, but I’m going to be really offensive because I know how to move your ass to its civic obligations.”
“How?”
“Every vote counts. If you don’t vote now, a Black, quasi-Muslim might end up in the White House.”
Silence.
“Well, when you put it THAT way…”
“Exactly. You’re a ridiculous Mommy, you know that?”
“Yes.”
“And for the tenth time, Obama’s Christian. And Daddy loved Jesse Jackson and Obama is like, a million times awesomer than Mr. Rainbow.”
“I know, I know he’s Christian…I know what I feel is very wrong…”
“But?”
“Nothing. I have to go vote now.”
“Ma! You are such a racist.”
“I know…I feel bad.”
“Then change who you’ve been for 57 years! I’m kidding. I’m reading stuff on the website about how other kids’ parents feel like you do, whether they articulate it so crudely or not. You’re in one hell of a bigot-sorority.”
“On your website?”
“Yes. On my website.”
“We are a different generation, monay…”
“Yes, yes. Now go cast your vaguely racist vote. I love you despite your shortcomings.”
“I love you too. Don’t stay too late.”
“I won’t.”
“Oooh! Oooh! They’re saying they are running low on Democrat ballots!”
“Okay, and that means you should…?”
“I’m going, I’m going…if I can’t have my McCain, I will take Hillary.”
“Bye Ma.”
“(laughing) Bye…”
::
** Do not try this at home. My parents thought it was adorable that I called them “Edi” and “Ada” as a toddler. Yours might take a Cheena Chatti to your head.
Got to get the parents to vote…no matter who they vote for!
Thank you, Priya. I’m mortified, but feeling a bit Machiavellian, simultaneously. 😀 She’s been a Hillary fan for years, I know she’d regret it if she didn’t vote today, shocking flirtation with McCain be damned. 🙂
it is common in certain parts of Kerala to address ones parents as Edi Ammachi and Eda Appacha. But normally ‘Edi’ and ‘Eda’ are words that cause a stinging slap.
Maybe the McCain flirtation is an early attempt to position herself to look like she’s not changing gears too much when she goes Jindal in 2012! 😉
My dad showed up bright and early today at the local elementary school to vote. The staff there was confused and my dad also wondered why there was no line. Well…Maryland’s primary is next Tuesday. 🙂
awesome. thanks ANNA for making sure Hillary gets a vote 🙂
ANNA, I had a similar funny election convo with my parents a few days ago (they vote permanent absentee). I think the Dem open vs. Repub closed really throws them, actually, but they were excited about voting this year (instead of disappointed, as per usual). 🙂
Guys, A hopelessly nationalist/racist/-ist observation, but in the excitement of the moment….
Hillary’s winning in California, the most important state today in the the single most important day in these primaries.
Guess who’s fuelling her win – not the whites, but Asians (and Latinos). Which includes a lot of ‘us desis’….
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#CADEM
Hillary for President! Yay!!!
Forgive me for being a duh brain about this, but if you are registered to vote for one party then you are stuck with them??
exits: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#CADEM
obama almost caught up with whites but got totally crushed among latinos, and even more with asians. 😉 all people of color are as one, huh?
Forgive me for being a duh brain about this, but if you are registered to vote for one party then you are stuck with them??
depends on state rules.
…depends on state party rulez. in cali republicans have a ‘closed’ primary, but demz do not (there is a hoop you have to jump, but i forget what it is, apparently some people didn’t do it and now the obama campaign is trying to get these confused independents’ votes to count).
CA Secretary of State:
ROTFL, cheena chatti. I have had my share of those!
2 · A N N A ** Do not try this at home. My parents thought it was adorable that I called them “edi” and “ada” as a toddler. Yours might take a Cheena Chatti to your head.
Suh-weet, I’m not alone. We call our parents tum instead of aap. It funny in that when my mom is retelling a conversation to someone, she converts everything to the aap form.
My parents vote religiously for the last 35 years or so (a few years after they became US citizens) to keep the “religious right” out of office. They walk daily and change their direction to the voting poll on election days. That way they get a double benefit.
What’s strange is how my inlaws vote. One almost always votes for the GOP and one votes consistently for the Democrats. I wonder if they should even bother to vote since they might cancel out each other’s vote. Just kidding! Every vote counts as the saying goes.
Oops – didn’t do the math right in my last post. My parents started voting in the early 70s (1972).
i saw this same voting crisis of conscience at work yday – it’s pretty good to know many people take this seriously. my mom has been voting ever since she got her citizenship, but my dad couldn’t really care less. i, on the other hand, unfortunately am a registered dem voter – and seeing as i didn’t like either candidate, i chose not to vote at all, and now am thinking of what to do about my registered affiliation…
It sucked that NY has closed primaries. I was shut out. ^&%$%&^()&)(R%$#^$&T
and seeing as i didn’t like either candidate, i chose not to vote at all,
Really? most people can choose between clinton and obama. I would vote for Kucinich as well.
This is an interesting question though, how many Indians aged 50+, living in the US would actually vote Mccain over Obama, even if they were registered dems? I think a lot.
Based on what?
Interesting how the desi community has shaped both parties’ presidential races so far…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020503237.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
After years of preparing for a 2008 presidential run, including trips to Iowa and New Hampshire and formation of a national network of donors, Allen’s use of the word on Aug. 11, 2006, changed the landscape of the GOP nominating contest.
“The most important word uttered in the Republican presidential primary has not been terrorism or taxes, not faith or family, ” GOP strategist Dan Schnur wrote recently in the Los Angeles Times. “Rather it was macaca.”
….. Allen’s subsequent decision not to run for president left GOP activists searching for their next leader. For the first time in a generation, there is no presidential candidate who inspires all elements — economic, social and national security conservatives — of the modern Republican Party. Would Allen have been that candidate?
And now California…..
At less than 1% of the population, we seem to have a lot of influence when push comes to shove!!! 🙂
When I was 5 years old, my “amma” hit me on the head with an aluminum “Chaya patram” ( kind of like a sauce pan) for some stupid stuff. It hurt a little but the chaya patram got a dent on one side. I would tease my mom for years to come about that incident. God bless her soul and I am sure she is laughing about this in heaven as I type this. Love you, Ma!
Cliff
A question for psephology / research cats. Indian pollsters have been remarkably accurate in their predictions (I followed results up to ‘98). UK and US pollsters have often been widely off the mark — John Major and Kerry predictions being the biggest screw-ups. Major was supposed to lose and Zogby called Kerry on election eve. What gives? UK is tiny and US electorate, though diverse is nowhere as schizophrenic as its Indian counterpart .
21 · Disenfranchised voter said
Maybe just the anecdote above?
Anna, you look really cute in that dress.
Lot has changed since then. Polls have been wrong about NDA rout and recent mayawati victories.
Based on what?
This is going to sound very silly, but based on his quasi-connection to the “muslim” world.
26 Brown “Anna, you look really cute in that dress.”
ANNA, after looking at you in the sari, I thought maybe my nephew’s childhood friend would be a very SUITABLE BOY for you. An Indian from Trinidad, wheatish complexion, Christian (there you go!), a fine doctor (I am very Jewish), really fun guy to be with, did I mention the wheatish complexion, and lives in DC, which could be very convenient, no?
I know you ABD’s don’t like us arranging these things, but just a thought…
Not normally prone to threadjacking, I concur with HMF #20. My friends and I, all 50+ year old desis, have no faith in either Obama or Hillary. Our hearts are with the Democrats, but our minds say “McCain,” and god how I hate is unwavering stance on Iraq! We only wish the Democrats had a more experienced front runner.
Thanks for sharing, ANNA. I had an eerily similar conversation with my dad a few days ago. It’s so disheartening that implicit or explict racism is what’s prompting a lot of people who don’t customarily vote in the primaries to go out and cast their ballots. Whenever I talk to my dad about this, I’m torn between giving him an ideological shellacking and reminding him that he, too, is a person of color. Other times I just go “meh” and try to accept that it’s par for the course with him and a startling majority of my family/family friends.
old desis, have no faith in either Obama or Hillary. Our hearts are with the Democrats, but our minds say “McCain,”
How is this a threadjack?
But interesting, you are actually extending my statement to include Hillary? I don’t know, I could see elderly desis voting for Hillary, if they sided democrat.
29 · Floridian said
Could it be older Desis feel “safer” with a geriatic white male at the helm of power? You speak of “experience,” but is spending several decades in a chamber where you’re one of hundred people, the required experience to be president? It seems to me like your it’s still your gut, rather than your mind, that makes you like McCain.
I knew that there would be white people who would never vote for a black candidate but it’s somewhat disheartening to see that blatant racism would be a big factor for not voting for Obama among educated, affluent Democratic non-whites.
I hope it’s a generational thing.
It’s a bloody Indian thing for sure (I am 1st gen – have talked to too many desis expressing similar sentiments which makes me so mad). Hopefully the second gen has more sense after growing up here. And McCain, ohno!! Why would people want their tax money used for killing more innocent people in Iraq over an interventionist foreign policy and his stupid 100 year war. To prove what – that America is high and mighty, we all know that, thank you. Too bad Paul could not get any wheels rolling.
He had me in 2004 with this line:
That was the first time in my life any public figure had made me feel American.
33 · Athena said
I actually think that for some desis, it has more to do with Islam than color. It’s a lot more nuanced than “I will never vote for a black!” And yes, it’s totally a generational thing. Witness how many second gen SAA are passionate about Obama. We were raised in a totally different country, and we were taught that diversity is good and discrimintation was bad.
We can either be disapponted in our parents for not “getting” that and failinig to be just like us or we can be compassionate about their flaws and specifically why they have them, since that tends to be a better starting point for challenging biases and irrational views.
I don’t understand how that matters in this context, Obama is a Christian
My sixty year old desi parents have no problem voting for the black man. You’all can expect your own parents to do better, in spite of having compassion for their flaws. I have been trying to explain this particular brand of racism (of browns for the browner) and though people need to understand it, it’s no less ugly.
Could it be older Desis feel “safer” with a geriatic white male at the helm of power?
This is what I was saying, many of the older generation from what I observe still feel American = white. at least when the executive branch is concerned.
I agree, bj. I’m always coaxing my parents with my own corrective doses of anti-racism, anti-oppression speak, no matter how unnavigable the generational divide may be. It’s worked to a certain extent. My mother’s racism used to be as overt as my dad’s, but she voted for Obama.
Aside from the geriatric sense of encrusted authority, what exactly does McCain have to offer to older Desi folks? Scratching my head here…
bj, I’ve seen this split between my parents and grandparents, actually. My parents (boomers) are defying every demographic bracket and voting Obama, but my grandparents are split between Clinton and McCain. For them, I actually don’t think it’s about racism, but rather that McCain is like them (septugenarians, lived through wars and the Depression and upheaval and the 80s economic turmoil). He represents stability and constancy and reliability to them. Clinton evokes a similar feeling, like the nerdy kid in class you know will ace the test. But you’re right, we shouldn’t assume that age or generation of immigration tips the voting hand towards embedded racism.
37 · Yogi said
If you think that ugly insinuations (“oooh, he’s a muslim! his name is the same as saddam’s!) about tangential religious ties haven’t been repeatedly raised in this race, you’re incorrect. I’ve spoken to plenty of people, of all shades and stripes, who were confused and responded to my “He’s a Christian” with “But he went to a madrassa!”
You can expect better but it gets us nowhere to demand it. Condemning parental instincts comes across as disrespectful and shuts down dialogue. No one is saying the racism isn’t ugly, and having “compassion” or trying to understand where someone is coming from doesn’t automatically validate their (flawed) position. It just makes changing that position a hell of a lot more probable.
I am aware of the insinuations you refer to I guess I was naive enough to believe that this innuendo would not be effective among knowledgeable voters, which was what I considered the desi (aren’t they supposed to be highly educated)voters to be.
I think it’s funny you say that because a vast majority of the older folks I know really like McCaine as well. From what I see I really believe that it’s the conservative generation who finds him appealing and for them issues like “the gay” or “abortion” are non issues because according to a conversation with an aunt recently apparently “we don’t have to worry about those sort of things!” and that’s a fairly common sentiment. I’ve felt shot down everytime I’ve raised any conservative issues as being the sticking point. “Oh we don’t worry about abortion, we aren’t the type to get one.” “Oh we have nothing to worry about immigration, we came here legally and worked hard.” and the ultimate “Well we aren’t the gay and we don’t know anyone who is the gay so let them fight their own battle.” Sigh…
WHAT? He is a madrasi? There goes the Scythian vote.
Amma Dearest drank the HRC KoolAid back in 1991 and her vote is a foregone conclusion. I’d like to think that her not voting for Obama is out of sheer ignorance of his policies and not because of the color of his skin, but I haven’t asked. The parents will cast their ballot for Obama if he wins the nomination.
Our (Louisiana) primary is on Saturday, February 9th, and is very closed. Given our usual voter apathy and consequent low turn-out, I can’t say that we’ll have anything substantial with which to tip the Clinton-Obama split one way or another. Then again, we have 67 delegates up for grabs, which makes me wonder why the hell I even bother to vote in the first f***ing place, especially in the primary. Between the delegates and the electoral college, American voting wants the regular joe blow to please go away.
As for Jindal in 2012, the family has made a pact not to vote for anyone who openly purports not to believe in the message of DNA and science, especially when he has a biology degree. Ok, dead horse beaten, I’m out.
I don’t get it. Aren’t they all Christian?
People of color obviously don’t think this way, and Plp of the same color slice and dice who the group is,(or what part of the group identity they lay claim to ) so their best side shows. “The black people” don’t want to be lumped with other “black people” solely on the basis of race.
Obama lost in Cali, in large part to the Latino,Asian vote for HRC. Cali is also the where Ward Connerly’s,(who is only 1/4
bad,black) prop 209 was born. No one wants to be seen as a cypher for the lowest common denominator of their group, and there always is a LCD for POC.I do think the race thing is,by and large, a generational issue… but on to my favorite theory; race=class [In the American context]. Americans, victims and oppressors 😉 are now at a place in history, IMV, where we can see the class issue with out so much of the hurt and weight of our racial history superimposed over it. From Slate Obama’s RFK moment
….When asked by George Stephanopoulos whether he thought his own daughters should receive a preference in college admissions, Obama replied, “I think that my daughters should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged. …” Then, he went further, “I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed.” ..The question now, as Mickey Kaus noted in Slate, is whether Obama will take this fragment and build it into a major policy proposal to shift the basis of affirmative action from race to class. When Bill Clinton tried to make that move in the mid-1990s, he was hounded by Jesse Jackson….
36 · Pondatti said
That might be true, but with the caveat that my sampling size is rather small, I’ve run into older (50+) Muslim desis who seemed prejudiced against Obama at about the same frequency as older non-Muslim desis.
People,
Obama is not black, he’s half-black. And he’s NOT Muslim, he’s Christian.
Shouldn’t we get our facts straight if we’re trying to make informed decisions?