Monday, January 17, 2011

Indian American Republicans

John Guardiano has an excellent post about a growing part of the Republican Party.
The massacre in Tucson dominated last week’s news. But something else newsworthy also happened last week: Nikki Haley took the reins as Governor of South Carolina.

Haley’s unique background and sharp political skills are attractive and compelling. Haley’s election as governor also underscores the rise of a new American minority group: Indian-Americans, who have become an increasingly important part of the Republican Party and the conservative political coalition.
An Indian-American, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, is  frequently mentioned as a Republican presidential contender in 2016.  And there are other politically active and influential Indian-Americans, some of whom attended Haley’s inauguration, reports the Times of India newspaper. Among them: Virginia Republican Puneet Ahluwalia; Sampat Shivangi from Mississippi; Philadelphia cardiologist Bindu Kansupada; and the Chairman of the New Jersey Republican Indian Committee, Bapinidu Kuchipudu.
I have long argued that since Americans are becoming more educated and more multicultural, that the conservative movement ought to build its future on those demographics. It turns out that Indian Americans represent both of those categories. Here are a few facts given by Indian American Conservative Council.
Did you know Indians Americans . . . .
Number nearly 3 million people in the U.S.
Are the 4th largest immigrant group in the U.S. behind Mexican Americans, Chinese Americans, and Filipino Americans.
Have one of the lowest divorce rates of any ethnic group in the U.S.
Have one of the smallest numbers of people living below the poverty line, less than 6%.
Have one of the smallest numbers of people receiving public assistance, less than 1%.
Are the most highly educated immigrant community in the U.S. with approximately 68% of Indian Americans over the age of 25 possessing a college degree and 36% possessing a graduate degree.
Have the highest median household income of any group in the U.S., at $83,820.
Are the most religiously diverse immigrant community in the country, comprising of Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Parsis, and Baha’is, speaking languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali.
Only began to immigrate to the U.S. in larger numbers after the nation’s immigration laws were changed in 1965.
Have contributed tremendously to America’s economy, especially in the hotel/motel and computer/software industries, as well as in the healthcare field.
Republicans would be wise to seek out more Nikki Haleys to run for political office.

Cross posted at The Cross Culturalist

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pablo, pretty amazing statistics. I had no idea.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that was me.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

You don't hear much about them and THAT IS GOOD.
No demands! If only the Muslims in America followed suit!

Bill589 said...

I bet you most were respectful enough of our country to come here legally too.

kelly said...

I'm sure their kids are well mannered as well. If a culture puts an importance on education, you can bet that Indian parents don't tolerate their kids misbehaving in school.

Revolution 2012 said...

The family unit is very close knit in Indian families.

Saying that, Pablo am I supposed to get all warm and fuzzy every time I make a costumer service call now to many so-called American companies and someone in India answers the phone?

Revolution 2012 said...

Congrats Pablo on the Frum Forum notice.
Keep up the good work!

BOSMAN said...

Congrats Pablo.

Right Speak is making it up in the World. FRUM and ODOM in one week!

I Love It!