South Asian Youth Political Involvement

Hey everyone, nice to meet you and thanks for Abhi’s kind introduction. For the next few weeks, I’ll be aiming to give an 18-year old desi perspective on politics, news, and general issues I think are important to my generation. In the lead up to the DNC, I’ll obviously be talking about youth involvement in politics, but there are many general interest issues that concern young desis and I’d appreciate your input for and on subjects – email anytime at ravi [at] sepiamutiny dot com.

Youth political interest in this election is certainly as high as it has been in a long while, and the rise of Barack Obama and presidency of George Bush have significantly contributed to this undeniable trend.

As I set out to confirm historic levels of young desi involvement in American politics, I met with a significant amount of trouble, as specific statistics on South Asian involvement are very hard to find (let me know if you find any!) However, CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), has done some interesting research on Asian American trends, and the results were interesting. A close examination of the CIRCLE (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) “Civic Engagement Among Minority Youth” survey (a PDF link), shows promising trends in the area of political participation –

  • 15-25 year-old Asian-Americans have the highest rate of volunteerism for political candidates and groups of any ethnic group in the U.S.
  • 15-25 year-old Asian-Americans have the highest rates of signing email petitions, boycotting and contacting officials of U.S. ethnic groups
  • In 2006, 71.5% of young Asian-Americans reported a belief that “Government should do more to solve Problems,” the highest rate of youths of any ethnic group, as well as the highest confidence in government regulation of business

These are impressive statistics, and my personal experience has shown that South Asian youth involvement has grown far more this election year. The Obama campaign, in particular, has inspired young desis (including myself) to volunteer, campaign, opine, and raise awareness about the importance of this year’s election. His story, as the son of an immigrant father from Kenya who has risen to be Senator and now Democratic Nominee, could be the story of an Indian-American candidate at some time in the future.

Another campaign, however, had also generated considerable enthusiasm from young South Asians, and that was libertarian Ron Paul’s presidential campaign. Youth who are tired of reckless foreign intervention and misguided government spending have turned to Paul’s staunchly principled libertarian campaign as an ideal of what a true principled politician, and America, could stand for. The campaign had an Indian-American at the forefront of its grassroots effort:

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