This ain’t yo daddy’s GOP no more. Not only is the Chair of the RNC a black man (Michael Steele, who owes his victory to the majority-minority terroritories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Marianas and American Samoa) but Jindal is the new televised face of the party, set to issue its rebuttal to Obama: 
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, widely seen as a potential 2012 GOP presidential contender, will deliver the Republican response following President Obama’s nationally televised Address to the Nation on Feb. 24, Republican congressional leaders announced in a joint statement today. [Link]
Has the GOP decided to embrace multiculturalism as a demographic necessity? Was 2008 the last year that contenders for the top RNC spot will send out CDs of such chart topping hits as “Barack the Magic Negro,” and “The Star Spanglish Banner“?
Not exactly. Nativists remain both a significant constituency within the party and a significant source of amusement for those of us outside of it, offering insights like:
“Diversity can be good in moderation — if what is being brought in is desirable. Most Americans don’t mind a little ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few Mariachi dancers — as long as these trends do not overwhelm the dominant culture.” [Link]
Despite their persistence, the nativists are unlikely to be a significant stumbling point for Jindal. Although he’s got a bit of a tan, he’s assimilationist’s wet dream, an all American guy named Bobby, whose youngest child is named “Slade Ryan” (no joke).
More importantly, he’s exactly what the rest of the party is looking for: a governor, a social and fiscal conservative, a staunch Christian, and somebody who claims to stand for increased transparency (except for his office, which is exempt). He has Palin’s virtues — he’s a young, conservative, state level politician — but he’s also articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy, a storybook candidate.
Lastly, it doesn’t hurt that the party is desperate, with just five red states left, all of which are low population. At this point, they’re willing to try something new, especially if it’s old wine in a new bottle. Whether Steele and Jindal represent long term change in the party’s thinking, or just drunken college experimentation, will depend on how well they take advantage of this opportunity.
50 · Suki Dillon said
We should. We’re superior to other cultures.
It’s unfortunate enough that a bunch of omniscient critics love to bash this man for an all-consuming self-hatred which they have uncannily, expertly diagnosed, but I find it especially distasteful that now, we’re suddenly the Judiciary branch in charge of who gets to name their kid what– and to what degree we may then criticize them for being “too assimilated”.
Best comment I have seen here in a long time.
So I just now got the pun in the title.
Nicely done Ennis.
Seriously. I don’t understand why American minorities get so terribly offended at the idea that we are, in fact, minorities.
They are no different then dominant ethnic groups everywhere else in the world. Who feel the same way about there culture. But for some reason America is held to different standard.
word.
Seriously. I don’t understand why American minorities get so terribly offended at the idea that we are, in fact, minorities.
Guess what there are minorities every where in the world and can you tell me how many better places there are in the world for minorities then in Canada or the United States. And yes I’m aware of all the racism that there is in America, but there is racism everywhere in the world against minorities by the majority group.
As our parents say, white people don’t have a culture! This is why Stuff White People Like is so imensely popular – it provides talking points for hashing out the ever shady contours of one, and btw, white people admit that they have no culture themselves – see the recent Atlantic article on the “end” of whites
14 · razib said
Dude, you have a very unhealthy obsession with “brownitude”. Are americans mistaking you for something other than desi?
To “ennis”: Since you choose to blog with an Irish sounding name instead of your proud original naam from the pind, and rail against Jindal who made similar choices, I have no choice but to conclude that your opinions are derived from acute self-hate. What is that you said about my remark? Nasty, below-the-belt, poorly argued, and besides the point, you say? Alright then, I guess it is vile ad hominem that I engaged in – something I’d better cease and desist if I want to at all be taken seriously.
These slimes that Jindal isn’t brown enough because he chooses to assimilate in whatever manner he sees fit, are no better than the constant sniping that Obama wasn’t black enough because he did not meet some standards of authenticity determined by self-appointed standard bearers. Or the nativism that you are disgusted with because they claim that Asians or Hispanics are not white enough.
I say this as someone who thinks Jindal is the devil (I only use that word so you can insert your favorite exorcism joke here). It does look, though, like his spend-happiness during the boom, which is flushing LA down the tubes right now, will put a dent in the reputation for fiscal responsibility that he acquired by cutting services for the poor (maybe he will repeat the same trick in these times – nobody easier to screw over than the disenfranchised). Why indulge in the worst kind of identity politics, when solid reasons to oppose Jindal are there for the taking?
Suki wrote:
What is wrong with most Americans wanting keep there dominant culture. They are no different then dominant ethnic groups everywhere else in the world.
Cultures change. Being closed to change, and trying to maintain cultural “dominance” is absurd. In fact, thinking about culture in terms of “dominance” is stupid. Salsa is more popular than ketchup — is our culture “losing dominance”? Must we fight for ketchup? It’s a stupid, and inhumane, way to think about life.
Same goes for people unhappy about Jindal becoming a wacko-Christian. Maybe one day all desis will be wacko-Christians (many are already wacko) — so what? No need for Hindu/Muslim/Sikh to maintain a “dominance” in Desi life.
(I did have a friend named Slade in elementary school. He dropped out at 7th grade and is now a successful auto mechanic. He was pretty much a nice guy. Things could go worse for the Jindal kids.)
Ennis – Had Piyush changed his name to Bobby, named his son, Slade, pandered to the Louisiana electorate, in short done everything the same but as a Democrat and not a Republican, then, would you still have done this post?
@ # 16:
I think you just stumbled on to what could become the perfect American name: Apple Pie. Can fall in line right behind Apple Blythe.
46 · Buster said
Exactly, just like Jackie Robinson was old wine (an excellent sportsman and an exemplar of baseball’s values) in a new bottle. Your reply indicates that race isn’t an issue, that you don’t think that the bottle part is important. But the RNC is much much whiter than the national population, so the bottle is, in fact, significant.
Here’s another way to realize why the bottle matters. Palin’s speech at the RNC was full of praise of small-town America, the very places from which minorities were ethnically cleansed in many regions. Not only did small-town clearly mean white, but she quoted the notorious anti-semite Westbrook Pegler when talking about small towns. (The reference went by most of the audience, but since Pat Buchanan used the same line in his book, it would have resonated with the nativists)
60 · Zainab said
I’m going to say this again: 1. His name was a minor part of this post, only one line 2. I brought up his name not to argue anything about Jindal himself but to say that since his name is Bobby and his son’s name Ryan Slade, I doubt the nativists would have a problem with him.
I think the name is one of the less interesting things about Jindal. I’m really not hung up on it. Razib and I were having a friendly back and forth about what could be inferred from Ryan Slade, but there’s a reason why I made that point in passing.
If Jindal was a democrat this entire post would be different because the context would be different. It is noteworthy when the RNC puts a non-white son of an immigrant up as its national face. The DNC, on the other hand, selected somebody like that as Presidential candidate.
Rahul @ 58
There’s no reason to bait. As I have said several times by now, I’m not making the argument you’re associating with me. Yes, I think he’s an assimilationist, but I don’t think that’s the most important thing about him, by far.
Your bait, btw, was weak. If you think the two issues are comparable, and the contexts the same … (rolling eyes)
Manju,
Your lame jokes are getting tiresome.
Also, ‘Slade Ryan’ does not impress, intimidate enough…should have been ‘Slade Runner’.
“(The Brady Bunch being the rather iconic representation of idyllic White America)”
Of for Krish sake. Don’t they have goofy tv shows in India? Would you want something analagous (I could get funny here but I don’t have the time) to be held up as an icon of Indians. It’s you who are obsessed with the Brady Bunch. Personally I like I Love Lucy reruns, but if anything should be held up as icon of America at its most culturally confident, it would NOT be the Brady Bunch. Maybe the Twilight Zone. Or Superman. Catch one of those for Master of the Universe attitude.
I don’t like Jindal’s politics particularly, and I don’t know what to think about his religion (mostly don’t care), but if he is accepting the native culture of Louisian as part of his life, that is what he is freakin’ supposed to be doing. It’s where he chooses to live and work and run for public office. Americans don’t accept you? Do you accept them? Slade isn’t good enough a name? (I don’t like it either btw); well then why would they want you around? If you don’t want to “assimilate” then don’t expect these-not-good-enough people to trust you with the public purse or their interests. Why should they? If it isn’t that they are not good enough, just not your type, ok. Then don’t get offended when they don’t want you around and f@#k up Punjabi names. Jindal is doing just fine. Finer than most.
Watson, it’s SO elementary.
64 · Desi riksha said
i actually didn’t make a joke on this thread…so it must be my serious opinions that are tiring you.
Ennis, If you’re trying to convince me that race matters, then you’re preaching to the converted.
If, on the other hand, you’re trying to convince yourself that the selection of Jindal to deliver the rebuttal indicates some step toward racial justice in America, that’s another matter.
Anyway, weren’t you the one who called him an “assimilationist’s wet dream?” I’m starting to think it wasn’t just the prose that was knotty, but also the thinking.
But enough.
3 · ShallowThinker said
If they were only looking for strong candidates then why didn’t they pick Charlie Crist of Florida. He is from a family of immigrants. But he doesn’t have the “look.”
Ennis – If you are implying that the only reason Jindal was asked to give the response to Obama’s state of the union is because of Obama and Jindal’s skin color, then I urge you to take a moment to revisit Jindal’s career arc: he became the President of Lousiana’s University system, Assistant Secretary of health, Congressman, and Governnor of Louisiana before the “age of Obama”, and given Jindal’s ambition, I would wager that he would be giving the response even if it was Hillary, Edwards or Biden in the Oval office instead of Obama.
Here’s another way to realize why the bottle matters. Palin’s speech at the RNC was full of praise of small-town America, the very places from which minorities were ethnically cleansed in many regions.
You talking about something that is from over 100 years ago. I have family in the States that live small town America and have lived there for over a couple of decades and they are doing fine. I grow up in Smalltown Canada, less then 30 minute drive from the US border and my parents have been there for over 35 years in area that 98% white and nobody try to ethically cleanse my parents.
Speaking of small towns. What about the small towns of the Punjab. My background is punjabi jatt sikh. Which also happens to be the main groups in many villages in the Punjab. The way Dalits and other low caste are treated there is just awful. Many of these places have Gurdwara which won’t even let low caste people in.
59 · Ikram
You know, when cultures “change” usually there are people actively working to shape the change it undergoes right? I see know reason why we should just implicitly accept “change” when it gets dictated to us by demographic forces or through various forms of indoctrination (mass media, education, evangelism, etc.) but any attempt by us to have countervailing forces for change (question systemic biases in mass media, trying to mold the education curriculum, counter-evangelism, etc.) is suddenly met with “Cultures change! Just roll with it!” You need to recognize that things don’t just change in a vacuum. They change because someone or something is actively moving it in a certain direction.
If Jindal was a democrat this entire post would be different because the context would be different. It is noteworthy when the RNC puts a non-white son of an immigrant up as its national face. The DNC, on the other hand, selected somebody like that as Presidential candidate.
The DNC has done that one time.
25 · razib said
You mean 1/6, right?
The way Dalits and other low caste are treated there is just awful. Many of these places have Gurdwara which won’t even let low caste people in.
Suki – I know these things happen, but how do Sikhs who don’t let low-castes enter their gurudwaras justify this. What happens in the tradition of, I think it’s called langar? What about the whole dynamics that Sikhs were supposed to change their last names to Kaur or Singh (I believe) throw away caste discriminations? I’m curious how they justify this when their religion was formed as a reaction to caste discrimination and the religion wanted to extirpate this evil?
btw, bobby didn’t take a big step toward assimilation: marry a white chick (which around 1/3 of american brown brownz do).
i meant american born. so yeah, 1/3. see here.
“…speech at the RNC was full of praise of small-town America, the very places from which minorities were ethnically cleansed in many regions. Not only did small-town clearly mean white, but she quoted the notorious anti-semite Westbrook Pegler when talking about small towns.”
Well, the good people of Lewiston, Maine, might be able to weigh in on all this. The Somalis appear to have settled in and just keep on coming. The natives haven’t done any ethnic cleansing yet, despite half of them being on welfare. Strange.
Politicians are so creepy. Both these candidates had associations with bigots but at least with the above quoted, it appears to have been relegated to words. I don’t think she was ever spotted stepping out with David Duke, but hey, I ignored her as I ignore all the pols.
There have been hundreds of thousands of small towns. White people didn’t swoop in from Norway and take over towns, driving minorities out. They built them around farms, factories, trading post, etc. The South has shameful examples of ethnic cleansing of blacks, but there have also been cases of Irish and Italian churches being burned, Germans were hounded out of some towns in WWI; Armenians not allowed, etc. This stuff goes on everywhere. It’s a downside of small towns–they have to get to know you, and if you’re “different” that’s difficult. I have a Persian friend who said that in his country, rural people, uneducated people, were usually the most friendly and unassuming and least prejudiced. In the U.S., it’s different, he thought. Still, provide statistics when you make some overarching statment about small towns and race cleansing. Most people are thinking of a place where you can play baseball at night and then walk home safely. Where everyone understands the governance and each others’ quirks. It is the same ambience that diasporas seek when they live near each other. Whites surrounded by people whom they might see as hostile towards them, fantasize of such a comfort zone. Whites make us nervous when they want to among themselves. They’re still the majority–it’s “their” country. But what if they aren’t anymore? The more you try to tar all small towns with that race-guilt brush, the more you’re going to get people defending them, because frankly, your case doesn’t hold up too well
Small towns are small towns. They are not “white” or “black” though there have been thriving examples of both. Zora Neal Hurston, the black folk anthropoligist, came from a black one in Florida. “Ethnic cleansing” occurred in Boston when the Irish brought cholera to a WASP city that had been among the healthiest and most progressive in the world. The WASPs moved. They had no choice, yet they let them come. Schools, churches, hosptials, universities, in cities that are now overwhelmingly “minorities”, were left behind. They didn’t like it much. No wonder they want the small towns back. I think the whites will either take back their cities or their small towns in the future. Formerly black neighborhoods are now El Salvadoran. I see struggle. Cities are becoming hispanic, suburbs are getting more black. Section 8 can pop up anywhere. I am rambling here. Basically my point is–when it comes to “ethnic cleansing”–just wait. What goes around come around. We all get our turn.
I did try to keep it weak, glad I succeeded.
Yet, you see it fit to mention in every post or comment about him. I don’t have time to dig it out, but this is not the first time you seem to be taking jabs at his choice of his own or kids’ names, or his conversion. Maybe focusing on his politics instead of personal choices would be better.
(I will refrain from commenting further on the topic of presence or absence of your self-hate, or what I think of your harping on Jindal’s choice to assimilate.)
Intended to put a smiley at the end of my parenthesized comment, since I meant it in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Ditto.
To add, whether one is an “assimilationist”, “nativist”, “mulitculturalist” frankly, why is in anyone’s business? As an American each has the ability to choose their path to their own dreams (or if we’re using some Alchemist language, you’re personal legend) in an attempt to break whatever social category you’re supposed to fall into.
To each their own, as long as it leads you to your path of happiness, while not trampling on others, it’s no ones business what choice they make in life. A desi walking around in full desi clothing should be as good as one who has decided on wearing a suit/tie, converting to christianity, and naming his kid [enter western name here].
I don’t agree with some of Jindal’s policies, beyond that, his life and his values are his own. Lets judge the man on his actions as a politician and it’s impact on the public, not on his kid’s name or what lifestyle he prescribes to. The similar arguments were made against President Obama (flip side of the coin) and frankly, it’s petty and irrelevant. People become Americans and define their own terms while making that journey.
78 · Rahul said
I think it is relevant to some questions. I think his name makes him more acceptable within the republican party, as does the name of his child. I think it reveals something about his attitude towards assimilation. I don’t presume to divine anything further from it, as far as his internal motivations.
You seem to be saying that we can judge him as a possible candidate without mentioning his name or religion, which is a baffling statement. Consider this last election – both Obama’s name and his religion were central points of significance and debate. People supported him despite or opposed him because, but nobody would say it didn’t matter.
Do you think that religion and name don’t matter to the GOP rank and file?
In case I’m confusing you I believe the following: a) that his name and religion are relevant to how he is judged by the American populace b) that his name and religion tell us little about who he is. His name and his son’s name tell us that he’s pro-assimilation, but there is plenty of supporting evidence for that view.
I have no idea whether he loves himself or hates himself. I do know that the choices he made make him easier for others to love, I don’t know if that was a factor in those choices.
80 · GujuDude said
Ah, but it is politically relevant in terms of whether he is accepted by the broader population of this country. I don’t think the average voter feels the way you do. They’re not as willing to vote for non-Christians as they are Christians. They’re also not as willing to vote for candidates with names they’ve never heard of.
If we’re talking about the reaction of the party leadership and rank and file to a candidate, then his name and religion are very relevant to understanding what’s going on.
Or do you think that if Jindal had exactly the same beliefs and track record, but was a turbanned, bearded, Sikh named Bhupinder Singh, that people would receive him in exactly the same way?
I think all of Suki’s arguments are very persuasive and I second them.
Guju dude@80 seems to making a very balanced argument.
I think the confusion is whether to respond to the negatives of GOP/Jindal with balanced liberal opinions or negative (tit-for-tat) reactions. And there is no doubt that this is also influenced by one’s own experiences.
56 · jabber said
Your parents are idiots!
Your parents are idiots!
amen.
81 · Ennis said
Why isnt black support of Obama on racial lines an issue? By the way America is not multicultural, it is multiracial. America can do without the problems multiculturalism has caused in Canada.
71 · Suki Dillon said
Two points:
Dalits/untouchables are outcastes.
Punjabi jatts are low caste (sudra).
The ugly discrimination you are rightly condemning is that of the lowest hindu caste against the hindu outcaste. This despite the fact that the perpetrators in these cases are no longer hindus; and despite the fact that their sikh gurus condemned casteism. If you really want to get under the skins of these obnoxious and hypocritical sikh casteists just point these facts out every time.
Via Slate, here’s Zadie Smith on Barack Obama “speaking in tongues”.
Compare with Jindal. Obama “speaks” a variety of black and white. Jindal never speaks Desi. He’s “Joyce” from “Dreams from my father”, once Joyce leaves college. If you agree with Smith that “flexibility in voice lead to flexibility in all things”, then Jindal is no good at all.
(Yes, you have to read the Zadie Smith article to understand the above)
Ennis, I don’t know about his name, but his vocal (in terms of policy) belief in conservative Christianity certainly plays a role in his popularity. I think you are way in inside baseball territory when you claim the average GOP’er cares that his boy is named Slade Ryan, and it reflects a certain desire to accumulate personal evidence in service of your opinion.
Ikram, I was going to link to that most excellent Zadie Smith article myself. Very relevant to the discussion of identity in this post.
88 · Ikram said
Being a chameleon is not a virtue. The article proves Barack Obama has no convictions. The ever morphing barry has a trick for every occasion.
89 · Rahul said
You’re making inferences about my motivations at the same time that you’re asking me not to do the same about Jindal AND you know far less about me than you do about him.
I live in the midwest, in a part of the country where (a long time ago) the KKK once made life difficult for Catholics. I’ve learned to spot a very Catholic name (Joseph Patrick or Xavier Francis) from a very Waspy one because it still matters in some parts of the country. Most Americans can tell a very Anglo name from a very Irish name or a very Mexican name or a very French name or a very Cajun name or a very Italian name or a very Polish name. If Mario Cuomo had run for President in the 1980s, his name would have been a liability for him in some parts of the country.
I’m going to stop responding to this line of questioning because, as I have said umpteenth times, it was one line about how Jindal was unlikely to be vetoed by nativists who might have had problems with a desi Catholic named Dinesh D’Souza and definitely would have had trouble with a candidate with a strongly Hindu or Muslim name. (Yes, I think his son’s name also makes Jindal more palatable, whether that was Piyush and Supriya’s intent or not)
If you think that simple point is overreach and intensely revealing of my inner soul and truest desires, well, you’re entitled to your opinion. I just don’t think I can say much to convince you otherwise.
Really? Chameleons seem to be pretty effective. And being able to speak to people in their own language means not having convictions?
Have you ever heard the term “confirmation bias?”
Why isnt black support of Obama on racial lines an issue? By the way America is not multicultural, it is multiracial. America can do without the problems multiculturalism has caused in Canada.
The problems of multiculturalism in Canada are something you will see only get worse in the next decade in Canada. I hate to say it but I see racial problems in places like Toronto and Vancouver. A lot of Canadians feel that newcomers are not intergrating into Canadian society and the goverment is bending over backward too much for the newcomers.
90 · Desi riksha said
Actually, exactly what the gifted Ms. Smith argues so beautifully against. But, hey, whatever makes you feel better.
86 · Desi riksha said
At the start of the primaries, black democratic voters didn’t support Obama, they supported Clinton by a very large margin. They shifted early on, but the fact that they had to change allegiance at all shows that their endorsement was more than a simple knee-jerk embrace of a politician based on his skin color.
Or do you think that if Jindal had exactly the same beliefs and track record, but was a turbanned, bearded, Sikh named Bhupinder Singh, that people would receive him in exactly the same way?
Of course if he was turbaned sikh he would never be received that way. Since awareness of sikhs are very low alot of Americans would mistake him for a muslim. But I don’t think that a white american sikh would do any better if he was put in the same place as Jindal cause of his look.
Doesn’t anybody see the career/economic motivation in the assimilation game? Surely you desi kids have run into the “uncle” types in our community selling insurance or real estate resorting to user-friendly names like Mukesh “Mike” Patel or Sanjay “Jay” Singh or the Wal-Mart cashier whose name tag says “Sue” but the paycheck says Sushma. What’s wrong with that? Let the neurosurgeon whose livelihood does not depend on assimilating stick steadfastly to a given name like SangiliMurugan Chidambaram. The poor desi guy who has to peddle 3 bedrooms/2 baths in New Jersey doesn’t have that luxury.
This brings me to politics, perhaps the only career where befriending, or pandering to, if you will, millions of strangers who will never have a chance to discover the real you is the only way to stay in the job. Therefore, I can’t fault Piyush for changing his name and religion. Heck, he should have used some Fair and Lovely to lighten his skin color, too, if that stuff actually worked. As for naming his son Slade, what’s wrong with hoping that one’s kid will follow the same career path, in which case Slade would be a way better choice than Rahul? Right, Rahul?
In the late Eighties and Nineties, I used to do a lot of business with the Chinese in Hong Kong. From the lowliest janitor to the corporate CEO’s, every Chinese I met had an Anglican first name. Of course, they all had their Chinese names as well, but sporting these user-friendly handles was not at all a cultural embarrassment to them. They were probably tossing the entire western world a bone. Here’s an easy name for you that won’t twist your exquisite western tongue. Now, how about that million-dollar order?
There is a counterargument to my finely honed thesis – Barack Hussein Obama. How in the world a man with such an incredibly exotic name, with a middle name that practically means 9/11 to many Americans, could win the presidential race is beyond me. What a country!
Razib, I did catch your quick reference to the fiance. Congratulations.
2. Punjabi jatts are low caste (sudra).
You would have to be ready to defend youself if you said that infront of most jatts. To most jatts, being a jatt is the most important thing in the world to them. Just look at punjabi music. It seems that half of the songs that are by punjabi jatts singers. The word jatt is repeated over and over. It’s kind of funny, but kind of sad at the same time.
97 · Floridian said
Here’s an earlier post on how employers discriminate against minorities based on their names. It’s a neat experiment since the resumes they sent were identical except for the names on top, controlling for most confounding factors.
Suki – I know these things happen, but how do Sikhs who don’t let low-castes enter their gurudwaras justify this. What happens in the tradition of, I think it’s called langar? What about the whole dynamics that Sikhs were supposed to change their last names to Kaur or Singh (I believe) throw away caste discriminations? I’m curious how they justify this when their religion was formed as a reaction to caste discrimination and the religion wanted to extirpate this evil?
I think part of the problem is that the last few generation the sikh leadership has failed. Also alot of negative parts of punjabi culture have had bad impact on the sikh religon. I have no idea how they justify this, as any time I bring up this topic. I get no answers or alot of the time they try to change the topic or worse attack me back calling me a hater.
The sad thing is that I see alot of the same way thinking among many of the punjabi immigrants to the west, who are punjabi jatt first and sikh second. They can’t let go of there 1950 village way of thinking, which does not work in North America in the year 2009.