Text by AKHIL JOONDEPH Art by SAMANTHA HO
KAMALA HARRIS A BROWN WOMAN IN A WHITE HOUSE
I
N A SMALL INDIAN TOWN, just hours before the first ballots are counted in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a shirtless priest carries a plate filled with lighted candles to a temple altar. The video from NBC News shows the people of Thulasendrapuram, Tamil Nadu, India, gathered in a local shrine, surrounded by clamoring brass bells and fresh flowers, anxiously praying for the success of vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Over 8,000 miles from Washington D.C., the echoes of Harris’ historic nomination — and now victory — can be heard loud and clear. As a daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Harris is a woman of many firsts. In 2011, she became both the first African American and the first South Asian American to hold the office of attorney general of California. In 2020, she became the first woman, the first woman of color and the first South Asian American to be nominated for and become vice president of the United States. Harris’ historic career has struck a chord, particularly with the South Asian community, and her nomination and election as vice president have inspired Desis — those of South Asian descent — across America and around the world. South Asians at the polls There are 5.4 million South Asians in the United States, and among them, over 4 million Indian Americans. Having an Indian American candidate on the ballot and in the White House has in-
18 DECEMBER 2020
