It was a sunny afternoon in Beverly Hills, California. At an Indian restaurant on Doheny Drive, I found myself in a conversation with a warm person with incredible charisma. She was introduced as Kamala Harris, the district attorney of San Francisco, with African-American and Indian-American roots. That afternoon, as we discussed the incredible power of the Indian entertainment industry in building bridges across continents, I couldn’t have imagined that she would be on the precipice of the American Presidency someday.
A hundred years ago, on 13 February 1914, a closed-door meeting of the Committee of Immigration was in progress in Washington, DC. The meeting was organized by Anthony Caminetti, Commissioner General of Immigration, United States Department of Labor, to discuss the controversial issue of Indian immigration to America. John L. Burnett, Chairman of the committee on immigration and naturalization, chaired the critical meeting. Starting as farmhands, laborers, students, and shopkeepers, since the middle of the 18th century, the Indian immigrants had realized the American dream with incredible resilience in the face of racism and economic hardships. Yet, the Indians were denied American citizenship. Former Stanford lecturer Har Dayal, representing the Indians settled in America, petitioned the United States administration to accept Indians as American citizens. Before he arrived in Washington, the American media had described him as a representative of the revolutionary party in India that demanded an end to British rule. The British Embassy in Washington DC had branded him as an anarchist in California and provided intelligence reports to the committee to discredit him. At that time, he was the architect of the Ghadr Party, and UC Berkeley was the nerve center of the Indian freedom movement. Ignoring the opinion of the British Ambassador, the committee listened intently to the ordinarily dressed, eloquent speaker skillfully presenting the case for Indian immigration. Har Dayal strongly protested against the prevalent Amercian immigration department bracketing Indians with “all idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, etc." and the negativity attached to the community on racial grounds. Commissioner Caminetti later noted, “A cultured man and a graduate of Oxford University (Har Dayal) called at the bureau the other day and suggested that a great deal of the objection to these bills concerning (Indian) immigration…”. However, the matter ended there, and Indians rarely got American citizenship.
Thirty-two years after the pioneering efforts of Har Dayal, the idea of conferring Indians the right to American citizenship was supported by W.E.B. DuBois, Albert Einstein, Pearl S. Buck, and Upton Sinclair. Finally, on 3 July 1946, a year before India's independence, President Harry Truman enacted The Luce-Cellers immigration law amendment that eliminated the restrictions on Indians and allowed citizenship. This day is considered the Independence Day for the Indian community. With the opening of the door to the United States of America, there was no looking back for the Indians.
Within a decade, Indian immigrant Dalip Singh Saund became the nation's first person of Asian birth to be elected to the Congress. In his autobiography, Congressman from India, Saund, who earned a Doctorate in Mathematics at Berkeley, observed, “There is no need for the people of the United States or their Government to instruct Asians in the meaning and value of democracy. In their hearts, they already know. But there is one burning question uppermost in their minds: Are the American people willing to accept them as their equals in every respect? If we are ready to answer that question in the affirmative, we have nothing to fear?”
Two years after Saund entered the Congress, in the fall of 1958, Shyamala Gopalan, a young graduate in Home Science from Lady Irvin College, University of Delhi, boarded a Pan Am flight for a country she had never visited before to pursue her dreams. She had secured the Hilgard scholarship at UC Berkeley in California for the academic year 1958–59. Shyamala, the Tamil-speaking, no-nonsense scientist from New Delhi who excelled in singing Carnatic music and ate vegetarian food, came across Donald Harris, an economist born in Jamaica. They fell in love amid the Civil Rights Movement and married on 5 July 1963. They had two daughters: Kamala (meaning lotus in Sanskrit), born in Oakland, and Maya (meaning illusion), born in Illinois. Simultaneously, Shyamala also earned her Ph.D. in nutrition and endocrinology. But her marriage fell apart when the elder daughter Kamala was only five. Shyamala took a teaching job at the famous McGill University, and the family of three relocated to Westmount, Montreal.
In their early years, Kamala and Maya flew back every other winter to Chennai to stay connected with their mother’s homeland. The young Kamala spent time with her maternal grandfather, Painganadu Venkataraman Gopalan, an Indian civil servant and former freedom fighter. Born in the district of Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, Gopalan began his career as a stenographer in the British-era Indian Secretariat Service. He rose to Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Rehabilitation in the post-independence era. Proficient in reintegrating refugees, he also served as a senior Indian diplomat in Lusaka, Zambia, in the late 1960s. He finally retired in 1969 and settled in a three-bedroom apartment on a peaceful, tree-lined road a few blocks from the beach in Besant Nagar in Chennai. During her holidays, Kamala walked down the beach with her grandfather as he and friends discussed Indian democracy, corruption, and political issues of the day. At a gala for the not-for-profit organization in 2018 in New York, Kamala Harris recalled, “My grandfather was one of the most influential people in my life… As I reflect on those moments in my life that have had the most impact on who I am today - I wasn’t conscious of it at the time - but it was those walks on the beach with my grandfather in Besant Nagar that had a profound impact on who I am today.” Kamala finished high school in Montreal, and on graduating from law school at the Hastings College of Law, Kamala began her illustrious career in 1990 at the Alameda County district attorney’s office in Oakland, California. Right through these years, her grandfather maintained correspondence with Kamala and remained a motivational figure for her till his death in 1998.
Shyamala forged a career as a brilliant cancer researcher at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and returned to UC Berkeley to work at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab in 1999. Her daughters inherited her lifelong passion for social justice. Eventually, Kamala was elected as the first female district attorney of San Francisco, and Maya, a Stanford Law School graduate, worked as vice president of Peace and Social Justice at the Ford Foundation. Singlehandedly raising two kids, Shyamala cherished her role as ‘Mommy’ and ‘Grandma’ more than her professional work. On 11 February 2009, she passed away after losing a courageous battle with cancer. The void Shyamala left was huge. She was greatly missed by her friends and extended family: her mother, Rajam; brother, Balachandran; sisters, Sarala and Mahalakshmi; niece, Sharada; son-in-law, Tony; granddaughter, Meena; and daughters, Kamala and Maya. A Memorial Service was held at Bellevue Club in Oakland, and Kamala returned to India to scatter her ashes at the Besant Beach in Chennai. In her memoir, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Kamala revealed, “Though I miss her every day, I carry her with me wherever I go.”
As time progressed, Kamala’s political star began to rise. She spent her career smashing many glass ceilings, rising from being a progressive prosecutor to serving as district attorney of San Francisco and then a senator from California. She completely redefined what it meant to be a woman in politics. During this time, Doug Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, began dating Kamala and married the then-California attorney general on 22 August 2014. On Martin Luther King Jr Day in January 2019, honoring her roots, Kamala declared that she would run for President in 2020. She rose to national prominence as she launched her presidential campaign with the slogan ‘Kamala Harris for the People.' With her sister Maya serving as her campaign chairwoman, the campaign looked like a battle between David and Goliath. But their mother, Shyamala, remained their inspiration. Her performance was considered weak, and she wisely withdrew before the first caucus was held.
Four years ago, on 22 August 2020, Democratic nominee Joe Biden chose Kamala as the Vice-Presidential running mate. Cracking yet another glass ceiling, she became the first African-American and Indian-American woman to be selected on a major party’s ticket. In November 2020, Kamala was elevated to the position of vice president of America, and it was considered the dawning of a new age. Her husband Emhoff, the Second Gentleman and the first Jewish spouse of a vice president, wound up his practice to move to Washington and support her. Choosing ‘Pioneer’ as her Secret Service code name, Kamala’s stint as the vice president has primarily been as an understudy to President Biden. Taking on some of the administration’s toughest assignments, she is a vocal champion of progressive reforms, including illegal immigration and abortion. As vice president, Harris made 17 overseas trips in three-and-a-half years but surprisingly did not visit India.
On 21 July 2024, the 81-year-old President Biden did the hardest thing a politician could do. He relinquished power. Thereby, he also secured his legacy as the single-term president in American history who sacrificed for the nation. Then, in a dramatic move, he made history again and swiftly endorsed vice president Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee for the 2024 election. Overnight, the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father became one of the nation’s most important power players. Though Kamala is not yet guaranteed to win, the Indian American community has much to celebrate, as for the first time in history, a person of Indian origin is now the frontrunner for the top job in America.
With the national elections scheduled for 5 November 2024 in the United States, forecasting the victor in the ongoing American political drama would be reckless. The nation is bitterly divided on abortion, illegal immigration, subsidizing health care, and cultural issues around race, gender, and family. Additionally, the world expects America to play a proactive role in the release of Israeli hostages and to help end the endless wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The regulation of artificial intelligence and climate change concerns are yet another battleground. Having survived an assassination attempt that nearly took his life on 13 July 2024, ex-President Donald Trump appears messianic. He is now seen in a commanding position and could well win another term as President. He has a devoted, macho MAGA base, the support of important billionaires, and a tremendous hold over the Republican Party. For his supporters, this is his election to lose.
On the other hand, Kamala Harris, a compelling symbol of the American dream, has already served in important positions in her long career, including being the nation’s first woman vice president. Representing hope and a generational shift after Biden’s epic stall, Kamala will take on Trump, who is 78. The election is also shaping up to be a battle of the sexes. Pitted against Trumpmania, Kamala is likely to have a more female-friendly, reproductive rights–focused campaign. However, with less than 100 days left, many factors are still blocking the ascent of a woman of color. The Kamala Harris-Donald Trump television debate will also possibly break worldwide viewership records. For the evenly-poised 2024 election, the challenge, as always, would be to win the swing states in the United States. The next occupant of the Oval Office will define the future of America and the rest of the world. Whatever happens will make history.
Meanwhile, Kamala, the first multiracial and female vice president of America, wrote in her memoir, “There is no title or honor on earth I’ll treasure more than to say I am Shyamala Gopalan Harris’s daughter… That is the truth I hold dearest of all.”
