I’m Voting for Integrity and Decency by Voting for Vice President Joe Biden
By Ravi Parmar
I grew up in America during the 1980's with immigrant parents, who had left everything behind to begin a new life. My small family of devout Hindus would travel to Flushing, New York every weekend, taking part in various Mandir activities. We were raised to find commonality in the goodness of mankind, and to serve the community. And of course, we were raised to be vegetarians. Our lifestyle was drastically different from our neighbors and friends in school. But my story is familiar to countless other South Asians in America.
My school was predominantly white, and my brothers and I were among the handful of people of color. Despite differences I may have had with my peers, I did not have much trouble making friends and getting along with people. In my community, we believed in the primacy of the family, doing good works for the community, and being contributing members of society. The basic teachings of respect, honesty, integrity and faith were common whether you attended Church, Mandir, Synagogue or Masjid.
It is these basic tenets of society that I find lacking in our current president. President Trump blatantly mocks individuals he disagrees with, and even stooped so low as to mimic a disability in front of a crowd. Trump has sided with our country’s greatest foes and simultaneously discounted our country’s greatest intelligence officers. Trump cannot help himself when it comes to lying repeatedly to the American public, even with dire consequences at stake, as he did when downplaying on the severity of the pandemic.
Vice President Joe Biden is a man of integrity, a man of faith, and a man of honesty. I say this as someone having grown up as a Reagan Republican. I even voted for George W. Bush. But after listening to Barack Obama, and doing my own due diligence, I realized that my core beliefs better aligned with decent people like Obama and Biden. They respect others, cherish their families and hold true to their faith.
As a Hindu American working hard to pass along cherished traditions to my children, I am excited to vote for Vice President Joe Biden. Biden represents the best of our beloved country. Vice President Biden has shown he respects traditions of all faiths, including ours. I am looking forward to the day that we as a country can turn the page on this horrific chapter under Trump, and towards a bright future for all Americans.
