Is Kamala Harris Indian, South Asian, or Asian?

The importance of her mixed-race identity

There has been much debate of late on how to identify our first female Vice President of color, Kamala Harris. She’s been described as our first black and African American Vice President because of her Jamaican father but she’s been defined in different ways because of her Indian mother.

Some have called her Indian, some have called her South Asian, and others have referred to her as our first Asian American Vice-President. Why the confusion and why the many ways of describing Kamala Harris? What’s the best way to define her Indian heritage? Which term is appropriate to describe her South Asian ancestry?

Kamala Harris Is Indian

Kamala Harris’s mother hails from India. Her family is from the ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram, located in the state of Tamilnadu. This village is located about 350 km south of the capital city of Tamilnadu, known as Chennai. Chennai is where Kamala Harris’s mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was born and raised before moving to the United States to further her education.

India is a country that is a constitutional republic and the world’s largest democracy, which is home to more than a billion people. It is largely a peninsula that is surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian ocean. It is bordered by six countries including Pakistan, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Burma, and Bangladesh.

Since Harris’s maternal ancestry is Indian, she is referred to as an Indian woman. Since her mother immigrated to the United States and Kamala Harris was born in California, it is appropriate to refer to her as an Indian-American woman.

Kamala Harris is South Asian

Kamala Harris is also from South Asia because India is located in the Southern part of Asia. If you look at the map of the world, you will notice that India is located on the southern portion of the Asian continent. Asia comprises 48 other countries, including India.

South Asian refers to several countries that are located on the Southern part of the Asian subcontinent. The countries of South Asia include India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Other countries that are included in the South Asian region are Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the Maldives.

There are more than 5.4 million South Asians living in the United States and can trace their ancestry back to South Asia. The term South Asian is a more inclusive name for people who are from this area of the world. Being South Asian refers to a broader geographic region than just India and includes the countries mentioned above.

Since Kamala Harris’s mother is from India, which is one of the countries that make up South Asia, Kamala Harris is considered a woman of South Asian descent. We can refer to Vice President Harris as a woman of South Asian descent or South Asian American.

Kamala Harris is Asian

Most people are surprised to hear that India is in Asia! Because of the general understanding in the United States that Asian people are from certain countries that Americans are more familiar with (China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea), they don’t believe that India is part of Asia.

According to this Time article, which cites a 2016 study, 42 percent of white Americans believe that Indians are “not likely to be” Asians. Even 15% of Asian Americans believe that Indians are not likely to be Asians! Regardless of the cultural and societal understanding of what it means to be Asian, all it takes is having a look at the world map to determine that India is in fact in Asia, which makes Indians also Asians.

Once you accept that India is in fact in Asia, you can see why Kamala Harris is referred to as Asian American. Her mother originally came from an Asian country, so it’s fair to say that Kamala Harris is a woman of Asian ancestry or Asian American, which is the broadest label of her ethnic background. Asian includes the South Asia region, which naturally includes India.

The importance of Kamala Harris’s mixed-race identity

It is important to recognize the mixed-race and layered identity of our newest Vice President of color. It’s important to honor her African American and South Asian heritage. It’s important to remember where we came from and in the case of Kamala Harris, her identity is not only her story but also the American story. Similar to her heritage, many Americans share biracial and multiracial identities.

After a period of polarization and division for the past four years, Kamala Harris is herself a reminder of what’s possible in America. Her heritage symbolizes the racial and ethnic diversity of many Americans. Being someone of a biracial ethnicity will help more people who have felt isolated and rejected for the past four years feel like there’s someone like them leading the country. She will act with the interests and understanding of all Americans.

Kamala Harris is a reminder to celebrate the differences we have and that we have much more in common than we think.

If you enjoyed this post, please check out my previous post on Kamala Harris:

They Will Be Going After Kamala Harris From Day 1

A woman of color is in close proximity to the highest office

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What are your thoughts around Kamala Harris’s identity and ethnicity? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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