Saujani in particular is reflective of the type of hubris that desi politicos often display. She has absolutely no chance in that district against Maloney. But she is running anyway. Indian-Americans would be much better served putting their time in at the local level, rather than thinking an Ivy League degree and a couple big-name endorsements are enough to carpetbag their way to a seat in the House.

That’s not surprising. Such relationships were common enough in the South. It was the legal, open interracial marriages that were rare. Still aren’t all that common. Thanks for the info, but I know that whites and blacks sometimes had close relations prior to the Civil Rights movement, but that’s not really germain to the topic. As far as changing American demographics, you may be right in how the percentages play out in voting exercises, but the changes are remarkable even in the 25 years I have been in this area (D.C. metro). I am going by comments and conversations I’ve had with Americans (white, black and “hispanic”), as well as my own observations. The changes in the area surrounding Washington, D.C. are significant. There are schools in the northern Virginia areas, also counties in Maryland surrounding D.C., where the students are about 80% Spanish speaking. My colleagues Spanish speaking daughter spends much of the day in translation at the Fairfax county elementary school in which she works. A 7th Day Adventist school in Takoma Park Maryland, used to be mostly white American with a minority of blacks, according to my neighbors. Since the early 90s it’s been mostly Hispanic and desi though TP town remains mostly upper middle class white with Section 8 housing buildings in some streets. Lot’s of desi 7th Day Adventists (my pals and even relative) in this area, and most are home owners of long standing who have seen the changes themselves. I really only know personally the mid-Atlantic, eastern corridor, but that’s a pretty electric area. The demographic changes are very much on the ground here, though, as you say, one must be cautious in predicting how this will play out in electoral politics.

The European descended “majority” is barely that in many of the most populated parts of the country, and in California, is now a minority. I’m still not sure how this will play out in party affiliation, but there is not really any precedent in the US.

let’s get a reality check here. these are basic numbers. 74% of the voters in 2008 were non-hispanic whites. even around 2050 when only half the population is going to be non-hispanic white (give or take based on projection parameters), the majority of the electorate will remain non-hispanic white (unless the laws of political science invert and young people start voting more than old people). not only that, because most non-whites are concentrated in states like california or mississppi, which are not in “play,” they don’t matter as much at the national level (electoral college). as for “precedents”, after the civil war and before FDR the democratic party was a regional party of the south. in the early 19th century the federalists were restricted to new england. also, remember that at this nation’s founding only 80% of the population consisted of whites (a number that increased to around 90% in the 1950s). and that large swaths of the south were minority white. states like new mexico were excluded from the union until they had a majority white english speaking population, but that shows what an artifact the criterion was, as new mexico had a majority latino population as a territory for decades.

oh, btw, did anyone know that the vice president richard mentor johnson, 1836-1840, had three common law relationships with mixed-race women? (one while he was vice president) ironically, johnson was at the head of what was operationally the party of white supremacy at the time, the democrats (populist democrats were generally the motors behind the disenfranchisement of blacks in northern states and the expansion of the franchise to all white males, federalists and whigs tend to be less particular about racial as opposed to property qualifications and so opposed such legislation).

seeing as how the past is complex, i suspect the future will be complex too.

no. one is clearly flattering, and the other is clearly demeaning. thems the rules.

My question is how many indians in the US know these candidates? forget whites and other ethinic groups.

“Desis are taking over Congress” is not just highlighting a desi story, it is the kind of silly, empty boasting that makes desis look so immature and foolish. This is the equivalent of jive-talking: under achievers wildly exaggerating their accomplishments to impress the gullible.