American Indians must assert themselves
June 11, 2020 5:11 p.m. ET
Ward Connerly in 1998
Photo:
Randi Lynn Beach / Associated press
“by William McGurn”Ward Connerly rides again(Main Street, June 2) rightly gives Chinese Americans credit for fighting for justice for all Asian Americans. As an Indian American, I am ashamed of the selfishness of my fellow Indian Diaspora. This is not the first time that we have been sidelined when the Chinese Americans bear the burden of the fight. It seems that we prefer to reap the rewards of someone else’s labor.
In the early 1980s, when Asian Americans were excluded from the SBA 8 (a) program for socially and economically disadvantaged minorities, Chinese Americans asked us to join the fight and we refused. The program ended up including “Asian Pacific Americans” as a skilled minority, but left out “Asian Americans of the subcontinent” (including American Indians) for several years. years. If Cal and Harvard can get away with discriminating in their confession, they can thank the Indians and, perhaps, the Supreme Court.
Statistics show that a majority of Asians vote for the Democratic Party. This is in part due to the American Indians. They strongly opposed the Indian Congress Party because of its preferential treatment based on the caste system. American Indians are overwhelmingly supporters of conservative BJP in India. But it’s a different tune in America.
VH Patel
Cornelius, North Carolina
Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Published in the print edition of June 12, 2020 under the name ‘.’
