One thing that Kamala Harris’ ascension has revealed is how little there is of a South Asian/“Desi” American politic grounded in policy & vision. Instead, we get jokes about food, memes with her draped in a sari and how someone who “looks like us” is VP.

Even recognizing and embracing Harris as “Desi” only happened once she was picked for VP - partly by campaign design (Kaling interview was key) & also bc of her proximity to power. Communities steeped w/ anti-Blackness & colorism now see her as their own.

This isn’t about how Harris identifies herself or engages with her identities - it becomes socially irrelevant when people are projecting their vision of her identity, and what they associate with it, onto her.

I don’t expect there to be a “South Asian politic” - SA & its diaspora is made up of over a billion people, w/ intersecting &converging interests (even in the same communities).

But it’s still really interesting (&unsurprising) how apolitical but superficial “Desiness” is here.

A lot of this is also what happens when your own engagement with your Other identity is shaped by a White gaze, where we adopt and platform the things that make us harmless.

Still thinking through this.

Consider for a moment that so much of our humor, here, is at our own expense - where being brown is a a constant burden or filled with foreign silliness (but only we can make fun of it!).

Lastly - this isn’t the case everywhere there are South Asian diasporas. Thinking about the Sikh community in Canada, which is probably the most politically engaged community in the country, having created a whole political apparatus (for electoral & grassroots organizing).

Should clarify: this is apolitical “Desiness” is rooted in the very upper crust. Can’t divorce the role class (& caste) plays here - unfortunately it’s those who hold the power of capital in our communities who get to dictate the public facing narrative & politics.