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:
Vijay Boyapati is perched on a snowy corner of Elm Street here late Sunday night, fielding other activists’ phone calls with frost-numbed fingers, and enthusiastically signaling passing motorists with Ron Paul signs. It’s a long way from the famously comfortable, stock-option-granting, lava-lamp-outfitted environment at Google, where Boyapati worked as a software engineer until quitting his job a few weeks ago to support Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign for president.
Boyapati, 29, says he drew on lessons learned while building Google products to create the same kind of distributed volunteer network with the goal of drawing hundreds of Paul volunteers to New Hampshire. His effort’s name? Operation Live Free or Die, of course, a nod to the Granite State’s thoroughly libertarian motto.
Boyapati’s leadership role shows the increasing prominence of young desis in the political world (in addition to the omnipresent Bobby Jindal), a trend that has certainly been noticed on this site. Yet while South Asians are raising their profile throughout the American political world, there is still a great deal of work young South Asians must do to truly make their presence felt come Election Day. The CIRCLE study went on to point out two disappointing trends:
Only 36% of Asian Americans 18-24 voted in the 2004 presidential election, compared to 50% of White Americans and 47% of African Americans.
Asian-Americans aged 18-29 were the least likely to discuss current events and public affairs of any ethnic group
While I realize that results of an Asian-American survey could certainly be somewhat different from one specifically surveying South Asians, I see some truth in these trends. In my experience, many older immigrants have come from a subcontinent where political corruption is the norm, and it is often more effective to make a difference in society from outside the government. They pass on this ethic to their children, encouraging hard work, a successful commercial career, and giving back through charitable work and volunteerism. These are all, for the most part, excellent lessons to impart to young people, but the stories of Bobby Jindal, Ashwin Madhia, and other desis are showing young South Asians such as myself that one can truly affect change (for better or worse) through politics and government in this country.
The unprecedented excitement and involvement in this election has shown that trends are certainly changing, as older and younger desis gear up for one the most important elections of their lifetime. One of the most important ways that any South Asian, young or old, can make a difference and increase our group’s power as a bloc and a voice in American society is to get those voting rates up and REGISTER TO VOTE TODAY!
