Organizing the South Asian Community for the 2020 Election
By Neha Dewan, National Director of South Asians for Biden
On June 16, 2015, Donald Trump descended from an escalator, surrounded by paid actors masquerading as supporters, and kicked off his campaign for president by making abhorrent comments about immigrants. In the ensuing months, it became clear that the country had a strange fascination with his candidacy, earning him billions of dollars’ worth of free media coverage, and providing him an expanded platform from where he could gin up anti-immigrant sentiment and heckle the cause of responsible governance. Many of us who stood to lose rights, livelihoods, or our peace of mind, were not in on the purported joke of his candidacy.
But then, he won. And worse still, President Trump enshrined his animus towards communities of color in the laws and policies of the United States government. With his Muslim bans, the Public Charge Rule, revocations of work authorizations for immigrant spouses, efforts to denaturalize immigrants, and his repeated nods to white supremacist groups resulting in a spike of hate incidents towards South Asians, I knew I had to do everything I could in my power to ensure that he could not win again. So, in December of 2019 — with my then 6 month old daughter Mila along for the ride — I established a grassroots organization to mobilize the South Asian community to vote for the person who would restore the soul of America.
South Asians for Biden was established with the recognition that the fastest growing immigrant community in America would have a say in one of the most consequential elections in our memory. In 2016, Democrats came up just 10,705 votes short of winning the state of Michigan, and there are 44,000 South Asian voters that, if encouraged to show up, can tip us over the line. In Pennsylvania in 2016, Democrats came up 44,293 votes short, and there are over 61,000 South Asian votes that can make the difference in this election. We also know that states such as Texas, North Carolina, and also Florida have significant numbers of South Asian voters. Keeping these numbers in mind, along with the fact that South Asians resoundingly rejected President Trump in 2016, I strongly believe that South Asians will be the margin of victory for Vice President Biden this November.
Since December, South Asians for Biden has become an organization with an 85-member national board, thousands of volunteers, and a presence in 20 states, including some of the key battlegrounds. We have launched national councils to reach Indian Americans, Bangladeshi Americans, Pakistani Americans, and the Nepali and Bhutani American communities. We are reaching out to Hindus, Muslims, and Sikh Americans. Each weekend, we are calling South Asian voters in states such as Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, and Wisconsin. We have organized dozens of regional and national events to mobilize South Asians. None of these organizing efforts would be possible without Vice President Biden’s unequivocal support for our diverse South Asian communities, and his genuine desire to see us thrive. His campaign has reached out to South Asians in an unprecedented manner, reflecting Vice President Biden’s respect for everyone making up the fabric of America.
Organizing the South Asian community has had its challenges. We have had to combat the scourge of disinformation on social media platforms aimed at our community, and we are having frank conversations about the very real consequences this particular election has on our future. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a unique impact on South Asians due to the fact that a significant segment of our community serve as frontline healthcare workers, essential employees, and are small business owners who are grappling with the devastating impacts of President Trump’s mishandling of the crisis.
But there have been bright spots, too. I cannot describe the joy I experienced observing Senator Kamala Harris accept the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States as the first Black and Indian woman to do so. Senator Harris’s biography and distinguished career in public service is a rebuke of President Trump’s despicable worldview, and I am grateful to have a first hand view of how her candidacy has inspired the South Asian community to become engaged this election cycle. In fact, Senator Harris provided remarks at a South Asians for Biden event which celebrated trailblazing South Asian women running for statewide and local office, and I am confident that her words will serve as a catalyst for countless other women to run for office in the future.
I admit that balancing a full time job as an attorney, being a new mother, and organizing the community during this election has, at times, left me utterly sleep deprived and with no personal life. I wish that I could give my one year old daughter the undivided attention that she deserves during these critical years of her life. Throughout this election cycle, I have often found myself giving her a bottle at 4 a.m. with one hand, while responding to emails with the other. My daughter now picks up toys to her ears and babbles into them, essentially mimicking my phone calls.
But with so much at stake, I had no choice but to focus on this election. In a few years, when my daughter asks me what I did to help with this consequential election, my response will be this: I was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow colleagues to build South Asians for Biden. We worked round the clock to educate, engage, and mobilize the South Asian community to ensure a better future for you.
Neha Dewan is the National Director for South Asians for Biden, a national, grassroots organization dedicated to mobilizing the South Asian community to vote for the Biden-Harris ticket in the upcoming elections. For more information about South Asians for Biden, or to get involved, please visit SouthAsiansforBiden.org.
