Thanks to the kindness of a few very nice people, I was able to go to the convention for the Kennedy and Obama night, and I would be remiss if I did not give at least a short comment on both. Caroline Kennedy’s tribute as well as the video ably paid justice to a man who has done a great deal to benefit all Americans, especially in many cases immigrants. The issues of immigration reform and immigrant rights, healthcare, discrimination, poverty, and an intelligent foreign policy were all discussed in great detail at the many Asian American events today, and Ted Kennedy has certainly done a great deal of work on all of these issues in his extensive time in the Senate. When he said he wanted to “close the book on the old politics of race and gender, group against group..,” I thought he would certainly be encouraged by the bonds forged by the many different ethnicities in the AAPI caucus, which showed itself today to be formidable and only growing stronger and more cohesive in the near future.
Michelle Obama’s speech probably brought the most enthusiastic response from the crowd, and it had a lot of messages that had the potential to resonate with the South Asian community. Craig Robinson introduced her as a devoted and caring mother and the Obama and Robinson extended family as one that has a strong emphasis on bonds and family values, a theme of extended connection that is common and cherished in South Asian communities. She discussed how her parents taught her that “America should be a place where you can make it if you try,” the idea of the American dream that certainly is powerful for all immigrants. Her major theme was that her and Barack see the “world as it is and the world as it should be,” and only accept the “world as it should be.” Whether you will vote for him or not, the fact that, as Michelle said, “a son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House” has to be encouraging to any proud immigrant parents or children of immigrants.
ravi – keep up the good work! reading your posts is much more efficient for me than watching CNN. bravo!
Also, good shot if you took that photo yourself.
I hope people appreciate just how hard it was for him to gain entrance into the Pepsi Center. NOBODY ganins entrance without credentials. He’s really working hard. That post went up at 2:55a.m. and he has to get up at 5a.m. today.
It’s the “Pepsi Center”……which is strange considering almost no one drinks “Pepsi” out here….
Good work Ravi! Watch out for prairie dogs!
I don’t think she’s an inspiration to South Asian immigrants at all. She’s got into Princeton through affirmative action. Desis don’t get affirmative action, in fact, they sometimes have to achieve even higher scores to get into college. Her absurd salary increase at her hospital job seem directly related to Obama becoming Senator not her talent. What were Obama’s grades? Did he release those yet? Is he an affirmative action student, too? Why won’t he release his grades?
Where’s the family values? George Obama ain’t gettin no love sitting in his crappy shack in Kenya. Most desis give their mother’s cousin’s uncle’s cook’s kids more financial support than Barry has given to brother George.
It’s really sad to say, but her speech is being widely regarded because she managed to hide her true nature (“first time in my life I’m proud of America”, “America is mean”, “our souls are broken”, complaining about sending 10K on dance lessons) for a whole 30 minutes.
Do posts on SM count for McCain points? I think, for packing as many talking points into one post as possible, bleh deserves about 3,000.
ofcourse.. thats why the OBAMA camp hid her for awhile after she started talking crazy, reprogammed her , and sent her back out after softening her up a little..
5 · bleh said
I don’t have to have a million things in common with someone to be inspired by someone. There is a distinction between identification and inspiration.
She is an educated woman and mother who does not feel at all sullied by becoming the potential First Lady, a role which many have dismissed as unimportant. I find this inspirational because it reflects a confidence that allows her to support, yet maintain a unique, professional and strong personal identity.
Furthermore, I would very much like to see proof of the statement that desis must score higher to get into Ivy League schools. This seems highly unlikely. On a side note, it’s a bit premature for desis to expect that affirmative action be applied to them. We are a minority, yes, but in socioeconomic terms we are often far from being truly “underprivileged.”
Michele Obama’s ancestors endured four hundred years of racial oppression. They were kidnapped, shackled, enslaved, subjected to a mock emancipation and seventy five years of Jim Crowe laws which prevented them from exercising the most basic tenets of American constitutional rights. This included, but was not limited to equal access to education. How could you chide her for thinking “America is mean” or having a “broken soul?”
Finally, Obama’s grades are of little relevance to the issue of leadership. His record of leadership at Harvard should be more than enough proof of his collegiate leadership capabilities which is far more relevant than whatever he got in Freshman Statistics 101.
If anyone is interested in an in depth treatment of Michelle Obama they can check out this Newsweek article.
Good job. I can’t believe you just graduated from high school. I disagree with you about Michelle Obama but ygood job but this is not about her.
I saw the speech and was really moved, it was well delivered and on point. It’s a little sad that someone like bleh could not see the warmth in her speech. Those kids are damn cute too.
Well said! (To poster Faiqa above)
Furthermore, I would very much like to see proof of the statement that desis must score higher to get into Ivy League schools. This seems highly unlikely. On a side note, it’s a bit premature for desis to expect that affirmative action be applied to them.
MOre and more I’m against affirmative action based on race in education. You state 2 things – you want “proof that desis score higher” and you state the affirmative action for competitive fields and schools does not apply to desis – Isn’t that proof right there. Desis have to compete within the Asian category, and they are not considered an underrepresented minority in these schools. Affirmative Action takes into account race (race as in an underrepresented minority) and this factor overrides not as competitive scores –
http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/004079.html
I don’t have to have a million things in common with someone to be inspired by someone. There is a distinction between identification and inspiration.
I agree with you there; Though I’m not inspired by Michele so much (maybe when I’m a mother I will be – she seems like an amazing mom, able to accomplish so much in her career and with her children) but more by Obama. Her speech from what I heard wasn’t particularly great to me.
I heard Obama got stellar grades in Harvard Law too – so I don’t think affirmative action should tarnish his great work. ONe thing about aa is that it seems to tarnish the high performing blacks, latinos, native americans that did get into these competitive institutions through their intelligence and hard work – and that’s another reason that I think aa based on race should go.
My favorite line of the night is when Michelle said, “Word is bond.” Congrats on getting in Ravi – I have a ton of friends there that weren’t able to finagle in so way to go! Hope you are having fun!
2 · tamasha said
Thanks everyone! – And for full disclosure, this picture was taken by the skilled photographers at the New York Times =)
This is really funny coming from a Republican fanatic. Your hero Bush got below average grades (mostly Cs) and was a frickin cheerleader in college 🙂 McCain ranked #894 in a class of 899!
By contrast Obama was President of the Harvard Law Review and taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He is probably the most academically qualified candidate for President ever. He is also probably the most athletic and one of the most oratorically gifted candidate to ever run for office. But the most important of his qualifications is his character. His heart is in the right place.
Lets face it: the main reason he is not blowing McCain away is because of the race factor.
Throughout her speech, I loved it when the camera would span over to Michelle’s mom’s face. She looked so proud and has every right to be. I wonder if she’d ever thought 50 years ago, before civil rights, that it would be possible for her daughter to rise so much and be on the verge of making history.
Well, She is right. “Americans are soo mean”. How do I know? I watch Keith Olbermann, Rush Limbugh, Shaun Hannity and Lou Dobbs. They are an insult to humanity
BTW, Keep up the good work Ravi!
kids were cute. that’s what the 1st night was all about.
… mentioned that Teddy has been working hard for the timeless American ideals of justice and fairness, service and sacrifice, faith and family.
Absolutely no mention of the American ideal of freedom, individual rights and the culture of free enterprise!
M. Nam
“I hope people appreciate just how hard it was for him to gain entrance into the Pepsi Center. NOBODY ganins entrance without credentials. He’s really working hard. That post went up at 2:55a.m. and he has to get up at 5a.m. today.” — Yes, Mommie Dearest. Please tell us who to thank, how to think, and where to comment.
Ravi props for reporting without such an air of arrogance.
@PS -> Thanks for the link. Very interesting. I’m inspired by Obama more, as well. I just wanted to respond to bleh’s comment about Michelle being uninspiring.
Where’s Oprah?
Affirmative action should be based on income, not race.
Ravi: what is fantastic about your post is how seamlessly you brought in the relevance of Michelle’s speech to the South Asian community. You write so beautifully. Thank you for your hard work (I hope you get some sleep soon, but you young people, you seem to do fine with an hour here and there). With those writing skills, you should be able to get into a local community college for sure…oh wait.
About Michelle’s speech: it was deeply moving. I am wary of her because my general sense is that she does harbor resentment towards most of “other America”–and that includes Asians. But I liked how she was a little nervous throughout the speech, how she was not as polished, and was very much a mother, a sister, a daughter, and a wife. As a woman in a career, damn, I know those are hard roles to fill.
About affirmative action: I am sure that Michelle is a beneficiary of affirmative action, but if this is the product of affirmative action, more power to the program. What makes Amrika amazing is that there are programs in place to give someone with Michelle’s potential a chance to move up the socio-economic ladder. It’s not about whose father’s brother’s son-in-law is the dean of a college. It’s about hard work…and a little helping hand. Who doesn’t need a helping hand in life? That said, I think it is time it was retired because it is giving Asian-Americans a bum deal when it comes to college admissions, especially in California. It is also not helping us much–especially East Asians–when it comes to breaking glass ceilings.
Ravi, it is nice to know that Asian Americans have a noticeable presence at the convention. If we coalesced, we would be a formidable voting bloc, but I don’t see how a coalition of such diverse and sometimes antagonistic cultures/nationalities will find one common unifying voice.
But here’s HOPE, y’all! Damn, I love me some corny sap. Seriously. Feed me moar corn syrup!
In downer news: The Clintons are on tonight. Good time for me to do laundry and scrub my toilets, me think.
Ravi,
I’m loving your posts! keep up the good work! 🙂
Desis don’t get affirmative action, in fact, they sometimes have to achieve even higher scores to get into college.
So a desi trying to get into the North Dakota State University for his masters in sociology will not benefit from affirmative action?
Moornam: If not for Ted Kennedy and people like him, you would be sitting in a call center in India right now over enunciating your ‘r’s while being bitched at by some working class American hero who thinks his Sprint bill is too much.
In downer news: The Clintons are on tonight. Good time for me to do laundry and scrub my toilets, me think
Really? Not for me – I’m definitely curious to see what they will say and Ms. and Mr. Clinton are much better speakers imo than either of the Obama’s – Obama has his moments, but in debates and speeches I just don’t here anything concrete and I am actually more inspired by the Clintons – it doesn’t matter if I’m a minority and they’re not…being a minority doesn’t automatically mean that I’m going to be inspired by another minority – RFK’s speeches were incredibly inspiring. Clinton’s experience coming from a poor, abusive home, single parent and working his ass off to make it into a great college is very inspiring to me – and I could care less about his lying about his affairs…what matters is how he ran the country and when he spoke, when he was running, his answers were very concrete.
I’m not very moved by Michele – the overall message of the speech was good, but I kindof have put her in a category that includes some of my peers who see America as very black and white and nothing more, which is ironic considering her husband…but then many Asian Americans act this way as well and take a straight liberal line on a lot of policy issues and never consider how it affects them or the society as a whole.
I remember having a convo with my colleague who knew the person (he’s friends with this “author”) who wrote the memo from the Obama camp about D-Punjab and didn’t have a problem with it. I like this person in so many ways, and he is a liberal – but how that could not be considered racist and xenophobic and yet he was attacking Hillary’s campaign as essentially racist. That’s the type a thinking I associate with Michele and so that’s probably why I wasn’t wasn’t very enthusiastic about what she was saying.
To bring some history into this absurdly ahistorical point – the changes in immigration law (1965 thereabouts) came in the middle of a civil rights movement, one of whose results was greater access for Black people to higher education, government contracts, etc. In essence, both of these policies (increased access to visas and affirmative action) benefited groups that had been historically disenfranchised in different ways and resulted from a collaborative social justice movement. If you go even further back in history, you’ll see that state assistance to particular families and groups in colonial South Asia was probably a big part of why they were able to get to the point of having the medical and engineering digrees that allowed the initial mass wave of South Asians to emigrate to the U.S. Today, the policies of affirmative action might not directly benefit male South Asians (women would benefit as women), and I think they should be modified to be based on disempowerment rather than identity alone, but the culture of affirmative action and emphasis on diversity has opened up a lot of professional space to desis that would otherwise be absent.
Sure, many desis and their children now want to ignore this history and that’s their prerogative, but it’s pretty stupid in my opinion. On the other hand, the socioeconomic status they occupy today is probably what’s determining that – if they thought for themselves and with an interest for a higher good than ideological arguments designed to cement narrow economic privileges, that would be great. Working class and espeically working class migrant desis have more legitimate beef, but
And I say that as someone who got rejected from most of the colleges he wanted to go to, so phooey on you 😉
Sorry that sentence should have said:
“Working class and espeically working class migrant desis have more legitimate beef, but” I doubt they are the ones bitching the most about affirmative action being denied to them and if they are, it’s particularly stupid, because they have more to gain from allying themselves with racial disempowered groups, women, other migrant groups, other working class groups, people of different sexualities and gender, etc.
“I am sure that Michelle is a beneficiary of affirmative action, but if this is the product of affirmative action”
And why exactly are you “sure” that Michelle Obama “is a beneficiary of affirmative action”?
If someone gets into college as a product of affirmative action, it doesn’t ensure that they will graduate as well. Check the graduation rates of affirmative action candidates in IITs in India for a reference; I know its a different country but some posters on here (Indian/Ethnic Indians) seem to be looking at it through the prism of the Indian program – so its a suitable reference. These universities the Obamas graduated from have rigorous academic curriculums. Not only did they graduate they graduated while being part of very esteemed campus organizations and later did their masters. Even if AA was their foot in the door, the steps they took later are of their own achievements and should be seen as such.
To whoever said that Obama is the most academically qualified Presidential candidate in history…there is no such concept. And as much as many people try to get away from the “We are not like parents or DBDs” concept on here, we always end up bringing “how educated” someone is by quoting the “rank” they got in class.
That being said, I do not get the hoopla over Michelle Obama – I get inspired by her and Obama’s “speeches” as much as I get by Bill Pullman’s before he gets into the plane or Michael Douglas’s before he goes to
bonemake love to Annette Benning (well maybe more by the latter). If you want to objectively evaluate Michelle, measure her up against Cindy McCain while putting aside your misplaced sneer on her wealthy background…In my opinion Michelle Obama would be an amazing First Lady if she took advantage of her ceremonial position by doing even a tenth of what Mrs. McCain has done so far.Ravi and Abhi…..Great work!
I’m actually quite surprised by how much younger desi(s) have articulated an affinity for the traditionally more anti-affirmative action stance held by the elitist class.
Even a 5 to 10 year incremental time difference plays a critical role in immigrants and their families lives in a new country and those born in the late 1970s and early 80s, have had a very difference experience growing up in the US, apparently.
However, reading these opinions here and other minority focused websites, I get the gut feeling some people are jealous of Obama.
Kinda of like I imagine people might be in the competition for the highest GPA in school.
Regardless, I don’t understand how people that articulate the anti-affirmative action stance or the PUMAs, don’t see the writing on the wall with McCain, if for no other reason than the single reason of placing two more judges on the Supreme Court.
Clinton tonight is dangerous terratory for Obama. History has not been kind to those who went thru bruising primaries. Ford vs. Reagan, Carter vs. Kennedy, and even the vanity candidacy of Buchanan deeply hurt Bush. The democratic party is divided and that’s exactly what the Clinton’s want. Obama must lose for them to regain their party, power, and arguably reputation.
Most dangerously, Bubba continues to play the race card on Obama. Thus, without prompting, he again accused the Obama camp of labeling him a racist, a devastating charge coming from a fellow democrat to his party’s first black nominee.
This puts Obama between a rock and a hard place. What’s he to do? If he defends Clinton’s accusers his hopes of uniting his party, and subsequently winning the election, are dashed. If he attacks them he ends up “admitting†that Clinton’s accusers, and by extension himself (since he benefited), are Sharptonesque, touching the very third rail he has so deftly avoided despite his political opponents repeatedly baiting him to go there. Both are losing cards.
There’s simply no way Clinton supporters will admit that a southern strategy was played, fearing such a concession would raise the spectre that much of what the VRWC said about the Clintons was right all along. Such an admission would undermine almost 2 decades of a carefully constructed narrative: the Clintons vs. the VRWC. Its unthinkable.
The Clintons know this and they can use it to keep the party divided. Thus, Bubba all but said Obama is not ready to be President as well as some other curious comments. Hillary writes an op-ed in the NYTimes saying we need new leadership without mentioning Obama. Wolfson is on FoxNews calling Obama a race-baiter. The Clinton’s fan stories that she was not even vetted. Clinton advisers are skipping Obama’s speech. Polls show him losing baby-boomer women and if one goes the Clinton blogesphere, one sees rumours so vicious they rival anything coming out of the VRWC.
This is precisely why party insiders wanted Clinton to quit the race when it became obvious she couldn’t win. The Clintons scorched earth policy has given McCain cover to launch all sorts of attacks on Obama, and even have dems defend him when he does it–b/c they originated from the Clintons: Obama as race baiter, as not fit to be commander in chief, as sexist, as fairy tale anti-war hero, as man with messiah-complex, as lacking substance, as out of touch with hard working white Americans, and finally as election steeler who lost the popular vote.
Coming from a republican these charges could easily be dismissed as part of, well, the VRWC. But coming from the Clinton’s and their supporters theses charges have an extra weight with independents, especially with a Maverick known for crossing party lines on the other side. In what has been a candidacy known for histroric precedents its easy to overlook that he is the first person to defeat the Clinton’s in decades. But he needs one more act lest they have the last laugh.
For the reference of trolls and naysayers –
Obama graduated magna from harvard law — top 5% of the class and a purely academic distinction. There is also anecdotal evidence that he did not mark down his race on his application to harvard law. regardless, his academic performance suggests that he never needed a ‘second look’. Since Indians are rank obsessed, well there’s a rank for you 😛
woops, that’s top 10% not 5%.
also, great post ravi!
Affirmative action for ‘disadvantaged minorities. hurts Indian and other Asian american students the most.( link). If a white candidate had close associations with Bill Ayers or radical church pastors such as Reverend Wright, there is no way he would be considered for a top job in the country. Media also conveniently ignores his association with convicted felon Rezko. Obama reads well from a teleprompter, but comes off rather inarticulate when speaking without it. Even in his thin resume, he embellished his achievement as a community organizer with respect to asbestos removal. Bottom line is that he’s severely underqualified for the job of President of USA and the polls reflect this as this should be a slam dunk for democrats after Bush presidency.
I am also tired of people being under appreciative of the contributions made by people of Indian subcontinent to the United States. Lets not forget that in 18th and 18th century, the biggest investor in the infrastructure of the USA was East India Company, and when it dissolved, its heirs. Guess how they became rich. I guess desis also have a claim to get in front of the reparation line, or get a ‘deductible’ on our payments….
Wow, nice job getting in. Thanks for the post!
This is totally true and a good reason as a moral justification for global reparations (of one kind or another, and not just for desis), but don’t you think if you’re making a social justice argument for desis, it would make sense to ally yourself with other people making social justice arguments? Rather than attacking a policy that benefits Black people? Makes no sense, unless there’s another agenda at play as well.
Your argument about White politicians allying themselves with felons and radical pastors is flat out wrong, btw. They visit Bob Jones university and consort with Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell types and have ROUTINELY had ties to felons and even committed felonies themselves! If anything, the double standard works the other way around.
Have you heard the phrase, “concern troll”? 😉 If Obama loses, Hillary Clinton is probably done because the politics are moving faster than her political ideology (she would have been earth shattering in 2004 to most Democratic voters; in 2008, she was branded as old politics; in 2012? I am hoping Obama’s going to face a primary challenge or third party challenge by a real progressive). If he wins, on the other hand, she can lay claim to her share of the party base and secure whatever prize she has leveraged for in exchange for whipping her base into the Obama camp. I think it’s the latter she’s going for, if she’s an astute politician.
I was being sarcastic, in case you did not realize….
26 · Pagal_Aadmi_for_debauchery said
I don’t think there are many desis that apply to sociology masters degrees; it’s not a competitive field say like medicine or getting into an elite undergrad institute. I’m not sure how affirmative action would apply here – If it is diversity and an Indian applying to this program brings diversity, the question would be does this indian not have the grades – gre, gpas, extra curriculum that is way below the norm to get into these types of programs?
I thought Michelle-begum’s speech was so cute and wonderful. I love Michelle, and this time, she’s dispelled my fear that she isn’t a great speaker. She’s far more remarkable than Laura Bush.
Now…in a few minutes, Hillary is going to be on. I’m worried…I don’t think that she’s going to say anything divisive.
I’m not being ahistorical in my views. I very much understand the civil rights movement and the signing of the 1965 Immigration act – that doesn’t mean that AA as it is used today, in anyway echoes those movements. I also know that the US during that time had a great need for doctors and scientists and also wanted to play into the cold war sentiments and that also helped create legislation that allowed the Africans and Asians in this country.
AA, as it is today w/o considering there are poor Asians and other “overrepresented minorities” from troubled backgrounds, doesn’t make much sense to me – you have African and black carribean immigrants and upper class American blacks being recruited through AA and highly representative of the blacks in ivy league schools – I don’t think AA does in anyway do a good job of what it was supposed to do, which is help people who are most disenfranchised. There’s plenty of documentation to show the backgrounds of the blacks in Harvard are upper class or immigrant black communities, whose parents have professional degrees. Here is an article on black and carribean immigrants filling the “black” diversity in elite colleges.http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/education/24AFFI.final.html?ei=5007&en=92df04e0957d73d3&ex=1403409600&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all
There are plenty of Latino groups, who immigrated as elites from their country, who have been helped by the U.S. government in so many ways (b/c of political reasons) and who are generally wealthy – I don’t think think AA based on race takes into the diversity within groups of people and I think it leaves a bad impression about the achievements within those groups.
The way you talk Dr. Amnom it seems you think that to be for social justice you have to support AA – give me a break – I just take a lot of other considerations into view and race based AA isn’t the answer.
Working class and espeically working class migrant desis have more legitimate beef, but” I doubt they are the ones bitching the most about affirmative action being denied to them and if they are, it’s particularly stupid, because they have more to gain from allying themselves with racial disempowered groups, –
what a statement – I think a working class desi, who’s applying to medical school, would rightfully have a lot of problems with this – and I know a couple of people who were in this position. Aligning yourself with social justice and disempowered groups, doesn’t mean I have to accept a blanket AA race policy – I’m all for empowerment, which is why I want more money to improve our public schools, or make sure the Fair Housing Act or Voting Rights Act is being properly followed – supporting a race based AA policy isn’t the answer for me and it denigrates the blacks, latinos, etc who have gotten into a competitive program or school based on their merits. Anyways I don’t want to derail this thread – there’s another, older thread where AA was discussed – If you comment there I’ll comment otherwise I think I’m taking away from the DNC – http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/003929.html
Mark Warner just derisively mentioned jobs going to “Bangelore, India.” Disgusting appeal to xenephobia, protectionism, and anti-liberlsim. This, along with their desire to move back our 14th ammendment rights thru affirmative action, which some of you discussing, shows you where much of the democratic party wants POC: as objects of charity a la a new “liberal” noblesse oblige.
MoorNam is right: no mention of freedom, individual rights, and free markets…the cornerstones of social justice. Just when they give me likable candidate they disgust me with their racism.
Yeah, I caught that too. Adam Smith, the Dems hardly knew ye.
45 · rob said
o god, hillary’s knee deep in “jobs overseas” rhetoric (but she’s is giving a helluva speech). I haven’t heard this many dogewhistles since the time I visted a kennel with my friend Dick.
No kidding!! Sigh. . . .
…and what’s up with Hillary referring to McCain as her friend?
48 · boston_mahesh said
they are friends in the senate. recall bubba during the primary arging if hill gets the nom the election will be between “two people who love this country” without “all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics.”
two patriots, two non-race baiters, and two people who reached the threshold.
But you guys had to give us Obama and look how low the election has gone 😉
speech may have been too good. reminds me of reagan in ’76 and everyone went “we chose the wrong guy!” CNN has a black woman on TV crying on the convention floor saying that was a presidential speech and Obama’s not qualified and still has to convince her. ouch!