2020 has delivered so many unexpected lessons, each lesson forcing us to re-think our priorities and developing gratitude for everything we took for granted – clean air, summer vacations, good health, new friendships at the beginning of a new school year and so much more. For our family, doing school and work has been rocky and challenging, to say the least. Yet, it has given us time together as a family to reflect on deep topics like racial equality, America’s history of slavery, the legacy of our beloved, notorious Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG), and our role in creating a better country for everyone. It warms my heart to hear the outrage in my teen’s voice when she hears stories of injustice and to feel her spirit and optimism to create a more just and fair future. We are getting more educated about who we should choose to represent us in school boards, city councils as well as in the White House.
We are in the final 20 days of one of the most charged up election seasons in decades. This #election2020 is happening in a year when we have battled one of the worst pandemics of the century, lost over 200K people to Covid-19, and have an unprecedented number of unemployed people in this country. The choice we make and the outcome of this election will have a profound impact on generations to come. While we wait with some amount of anxiety, I wanted to share some hopeful insights and some meaningful actions we can all take to influence the outcome on November 3, 2020.
Aimee Allison, founder of @SheThePeople shared in a recent Neythri event on Why South Asian votes matter that the enthusiastic support of women of color will be essential to determining the next president! We (women of color) are the new majority, a group that is inspired by a justice-for-all agenda, who can support women to lead every level of the government and bring in leadership who will represent issues most dear and near to our hearts!
In the same event, Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at the University of California, Riverside shared that Asian Americans are not only the fastest-growing racial group but also rapidly increasing their civic engagement. As a group, Asian Indians align more towards progressive policies and are more enthusiastic to vote this year compared to previous elections.
Further, he found 56% of Indian male voters indicate a preference for Biden, and 40% prefer Trump. On the other hand, 76% of Indian women voters prefer Biden and 16% prefer Trump, revealing a wide gender gap in preferences not seen before. Overall preference in the Indian American community for Trump has grown from 16% in the 2016 election to 28% this year.
Personally, I see an opportunity to connect with Indian American women, preferably in their native languages. Given the gender gap in policy preferences, it is important to educate Indian American women and give them confidence in their own voice, own priorities, and their own vision. We have a tremendous opportunity to reach out and support Indian American women to exercise their right to vote! We have the opportunity to use our skills to organize, form allyship with other women of color groups, and inspire the next generation of Kamala’s to run for positions at all levels of government.
Our voice matters! Our vote matters! Please vote early and reach out to support others who may need a nudge. Let’s make election 2020 a milestone year for Indian American women voter turnout. Our future is counting on us!
Women of Neythri and Community leaders are speaking #Election2020
Visit vote.org for voting resources.
Author Bio Mayura works on product marketing and demand gen at a cloud security company after a long career at Intel in various product, partner, and campaign marketing roles. Her super-powers include being a strong collaborator and driven to achieve business results. When not working, Mayura enjoys hiking, dance, yoga, and cheering at her children’s games/meets/shows with her Canon SLR camera.
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