'Kamala Auntie' prompts examination of anti-Blackness for South Asians

Because, though South Asians might be hungry for representation, celebrating only her Indian heritage is an erasure that feeds anti-Blackness and the model minority myth.For immigrants to the U.S. after 1965, the model minority myth has been perpetuated by white people in power, praising Asian Americans as inherently hardworking and willing to assimilate to dismiss the oppression of Black and Latino Americans, experts have pointed out.The Morning RundownThis site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service“Why are our communities rallying behind her now?” she said. But the senator was never particularly vocal about her complex identity until her 2020 presidential bid.She has said that she would prefer to define herself as “American.”Even during her campaign, she was one of two Asian American candidates in the running — but the U.S. public’s image of an “Asian” doesn’t look like Harris.“Sharing the stage with her was Andrew Yang, an East Asian, who just automatically became in people’s minds the Asian American candidate, even though he was not the only one,” said Nitish Pahwa, an Indian American writer who analyzed Harris’ relationship with South Asian Americans.But as soon as she was announced as Biden’s running mate, Indians were quick to celebrate that there might be “someone in the White House who knows their mirch and masala”.Kamala Harris is a Black and Desi woman.