‘ I am really just in awe’
‘ I am in awe’: Area residents see themselves in vice president
Indian Americans, such as Avani Hamilton ( right) of Foster City and her mother, Shikha Hamilton, are proud and excited to see their heritage represented in the second highest U. S. office with the election of Kamala Harris as vice president.
When Avani Hamilton witnessed Kamala Harris being sworn in as California’s new attorney general in 2011, she thought it was cool to see someone like her, who was also half Black and half Indian, at the podium.
After the ceremony, Hamilton’s mother shook Harris’ hand and proudly told her, “My daughter shares the same background as you!”
As an 11yearold, Hamilton didn’t fully understand the significance of the moment. But on Saturday, she was ecstatic to see a woman of color, who straddles the same two cultures she does, be elected the country’s first Black and first Indian American vice president.
“To see her represent me in a place I never thought I’d see myself is really amazing,” Hamilton said. “I am really just in awe.”
Hamilton and many other Bay Area Indian Americans felt giddy this weekend as they recognized flickers of themselves in the new vice president. Harris, whose father is Jamaican and whose mother is from Tamil Nadu in India, did not tout her Indian roots during the campaign as much as she did her background as a Black woman.
But the signs were still there: She shared how she came from hardworking immigrants, calls her aunts “chittis,” celebrates Diwali and loves daal, a traditional dish that is a staple in Indian homes.
“We hear these parallels and we hear parts of her story that echo parts of our own,” said Kalpana Peddibhotla, a Bay Area immigration lawyer. “That’s tremendous to have in the secondhighest office in the country.”
Many Black women around the country felt a similar thrill this weekend. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the election wasn’t just meaningful for women or Black people — but for anyone in the United States who has ever felt like they weren’t represented.
“It makes me hopeful because she represents all Black women, and all Indian women,” Hamilton said of Harris. “And all of these groups that haven’t been represented in our country’s leadership.”
The pride stretched all the way from Harris’ birthplace of Oakland to Thulasendrapuram, a village in India where her grandfather, P. V. Gopalan, was born more than 100 years ago.
Gopalan was a civil servant who fought for Indian independence from Britain and flouted many traditional Indian stereotypes along the way. Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, came to the U. S. alone in the late 1950s and worked as a breast cancer researcher at UC Berkeley before dying of cancer herself in 2009.
“Who would have thought?” said M. R. Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora, a Bay Area nonprofit that works to get Indians involved in politics. “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it doesn’t matter. This is an achievement. A milestone.”
About 4.5 million Indians live in the U. S., many of them in California, according to 2018 figures from AAPI Data, which publishes demographic and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. According to figures from 2016, 48% of Indian Americans are registered Democrats, 22% are Republican and the remaining 30% are undecided. Also in 2016, 85% of the people surveyed voted for Hillary Clinton, while 15% went for Trump.
While some communities celebrated Harris’ ascent, her own bid for the presidency floundered earlier this year, and she was criticized for, among other things, being too cautious on criminal justice reform during her law enforcement career. Many progressive Democrats worried that she and Biden wouldn’t be aggressive enough on issues like police accountability and climate change.
Such issues did not dissuade Anita Kapadia, who said she was was proud that Biden chose a woman with Indian heritage as his running mate.
Kapadia, who lives in the South Bay, joined an organization called They See Blue to encourage South Asians to vote in 2020. Biden’s choice to run with Harris inspired her to work harder to help them win. Kapadia was particularly struck by the diversity of Harris’ family, reflected on stage after her Saturday victory speech.
“It was just very symbolic,” Kapadia said. “We live in California, and that’s what we see.”
Karthick Ramakrishnan, political science professor and associate dean of the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, said the BidenHarris victory could mean a fruitful relationship with India, one that has grown closer over the years, even under President Trump.
He noted that Harris is part of a growing trend of Indian Americans running for office. Some lost their races this year, but others won reelection: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Rep. Ami Bera and Ro Khanna
from California, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Washington.
“It’s a virtuous cycle,” Ramakrishnan said. “The more people win, the more campaign contributions generate, and the more people are encouraged to run because they see people who look like them winning.”
For Peddibhotla, the immigration lawyer, a new administration will change the tenor of her work, too. She said she had watched clients and their families suffer from Trump’s immigration policies over the past few years. Since coming into office, the president has made it harder for immigrants to enter the country and work via H1B visas, which are heavily used by Indians.
Harris, during the campaign, pledged to support wholesale immigration reform and the rights of undocumented immigrants.
On Saturday, Peddibhotla felt yet another connection to Harris while watching the vice presidentelect give her victory speech. As Harris mentioned her late mother in the speech, Peddibhotla couldn’t help but think of her own mother — who recently passed away of cancer as well.
Peddibhotla likes to imagine that both of their moms are looking down at America together, beaming with joy at what the Indian community has accomplished.
“We were mocked in popular movies and in television. We were stereotyped,” she said. “Harris shows the fullness of the community and the breadth of our potential.”
“To see her represent me in a place I never thought I’d see myself is really amazing.” Avani Hamilton, on fellow Indian American Kamala Harris.