Coming of Age in Multiracial America: South Asian Political Incorporation
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Coming of Age in Multiracial America: South Asian Political Incorporation Sayu V. Bhojwani Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Sayu V. Bhojwani All rights reserved ABSTRACT Coming of Age in Multiracial America: South Asian Political Incorporation Sayu Bhojwani America has long been a nation of immigrants, but never before has it been as multiracial as it is today. This diversity coincides with an evolving political landscape, in which the role of political parties is declining, and nonprofits are increasingly more relevant in immigrant mobilization. In this multiracial and dynamic political arena, racial and ethnic groups are learning both how to build political power and how to negotiate for power across racial and ethnic lines. Among the many groups engaged in this process of political incorporation are South Asians, and this research looks at their political incorporation through a case study of New York City using elite interviews of nonprofit leaders, elected officials and political candidates. Often portrayed as a model minority, South Asians are perceived as well- integrated into American life. This study sought to assess whether in fact this perception applies to political incorporation, through the exploration of these questions: (1) In what ways do South Asians participate in electoral and non-electoral activities? What does their participation or nonparticipation indicate about their incorporation into the American polity? (2) How do socio-economic status and occupational sector influence and/or determine the ways in which South Asians are mobilized and the type of participation in which they engage? (3) What are the factors associated with South Asians’ ability to achieve descriptive representation, particularly at the local level? and (4) What role do cross-racial and issue-based coalitions play in South Asians’ ability to achieve their political goals such as representation and policy making? The findings indicate that there is no common South Asian agenda across socioeconomic status, that the community’s electoral impact is limited by the small number of registered South Asian voters, and that low-income South Asians are increasingly likely to be mobilized by nonprofits and other political actors. Further, the results suggest that South Asians are likely to remain dependent on multiracial coalition building as a strategy for electoral and policy gains, including for electing descriptive representatives. The study concludes that contemporary immigrant incorporation must be examined within the following frameworks: nonlinear pathways of participation, differential emphasis on national and local descriptive representation, and coalition building as a measure of political success, particularly in multiracial contexts. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures ii Acknowledgements iii Dedication vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: South Asian Americans 34 Chapter 3: Data and Methods 52 Chapter 4: Political Participation 71 Chapter 5: Coalition Building 105 Chapter 6: Political Representation 120 Chapter 7: Emerging Pathways for Immigrant Incorporation 146 References 158 Appendix A: Sample Interview Questions 172 Appendix B: Survey 176 Appendix C: List of Interviewees 182 i List of Tables and Figures Figure 1.1 Political Incorporation Model 19 Figure 2.2 Politicization Cycle 30 Table 2.1 World Region of Birth for Asian Indians 42 Table 2.2 South Asian New Yorkers Compared to Overall NYC Population 50 Table 2.3 South Asians in New York City: A Demographic Profile 51 Figure 3.1 Census Form 2010, Question 6 54 Figure 3.2 South Asians by State 68 Figure 3.3 South Asians by New York City Borough 69 Figure 3.4 Diversity in Queens 70 Table 4.1 South Asian Organizations Interviewed 78 Table 4.2 Voting Rates in Immigrants' Home Countries and the U.S. 80 Table 6.1 Election Results for Council 23 Democratic Primary (Including Bellerose) in 2009 130 Table 6.2 Election Results for Council 28 Special Election (Including Richmond Hill) in 2010 130 Table 6.3 Election Results for Council 25 (Including Jackson Heights) in 2009 (D Primary) 130 Table 6.4 Profile and Results of South Asian Candidates for 2013 New York City Elections 139 Table 6.5 South Asian Demographics in Queens City Council Districts 142 Table 6.6 South Asian Demographics in Queens Assembly Districts 143 ii Acknowledgements I consider it a minor miracle that this dissertation made its way to completion. It is my work, but work that could not be possible without gentle nudging, forceful encouragement, and incredible sacrifice by others in my life. Knowing that so many people were counting on me, and on seeing this work, was a great motivator, and I will always see this as a product of all our efforts. Teachers College has been part of my academic journey for many years, so it’s fitting to first acknowledge Gita Steiner-Khamsi for bringing me into the doctoral universe and for her support and understanding when I left the International Education program to serve in public office. Several years later, the indomitable Ester Fuchs ensured that I connected with Jeff Henig, and both of them have been an instrumental part of my late-blooming love for political science. I am eternally grateful to Ester for her support and introduction to Jeff. For me, Jeff’s passion for education and politics is an inspiration, and I am deeply appreciative of his patience as I dithered over a topic and meandered through various drafts of proposals and the dissertation. It took great fortitude to tolerate me as a student, and I will be in his debt forever. He and Sudhir Venkatesh ensured that I could afford to study, and I thank them for making it possible for me to attend classes without financial burden. Other academic colleagues have been core to this journey, and John Mollenkopf is foremost among them. Without his example and his mentoring, I would not have made it to the finish line. My dear friend Nicole Marwell has provided both academic guidance and emotional iii support, fielding frantic calls from me and supporting me through moments of crisis. I am ever grateful to her for being there at all times. Along the way, Lisa Garcia-Bedolla, Tarry Hum, Jane Junn, Madhulika Khandelwal, Melissa Marschall, and Sangay Mishra provided helpful insights or leads. You may not remember, but I always will. Monisha Bajaj, I am sorry to have lost you to California, but thankful that we met just in time for you to serve on my proposal committee. Lesley Bartlett and Amy Stuart Wells, you agreed to be on my committee as a leap of faith in my subject, and I appreciate your openness to do so, despite hectic schedules. Ruth Mandel created an opening for me at Rutgers in the 2013-14 academic year, and that affiliation motivated me to be worthy of it. Thank you. I am most grateful to and appreciative of my husband Anshu and daughter Yadna. They were patient, supportive, understanding, and most of all, good-humored about giving up weekends with me and listening to me drone on about a subject for long after it lost its initial interest to them. Along with them, my siblings and close friends bore the brunt of my many periods of anti-social behavior, and I hope they will feel a shared pride in this product. I want to thank Gina Ma in particular for her support in more ways than I can list on these pages. For their tolerance of my odd work hours and limited availability during writing periods, I thank my colleagues at the New American Leaders Project. Among them, Tyler Reny was a colleague and more. I am grateful for his insight, research support and general enthusiasm for academic pursuits. Thanks also to Marian Guerra for her research assistance. Last but really first in this journey are my incredible parents, who have always understood that life is a marathon and not a sprint, a lesson well applied to the dissertation process. They are the foundation for all my dreams and ambitions. iv Every one I interviewed spoke with me honestly and with great commitment to the subject of this dissertation. I humbly hope you will find that the final product has done justice to your words and your work. v Dedication To the South Asian community in New York City, which welcomed me when I first came to this great city To my parents for their example of hard work and determination To my husband, for never doubting and To my daughter, whose arrival in my life makes everything both impossible and possible. vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION America has long been a nation of immigrants, but never before has it been as multiracial as it is today. This diversity coincides with an evolving political landscape, in which the role of political parties is declining (Sterne 2008; Fuchs, Shapiro and Minite 2005), and nonprofits are increasingly more relevant in immigrant mobilization (Andersen 2008). In this multiracial and dynamic political arena, racial and ethnic groups are learning both how to build political power and how to negotiate for power across racial and ethnic lines. Among the many groups engaged in this process of political incorporation is South Asians, and this dissertation offers a new, nuanced portrait of the community that showcases the group’s incorporation in the multiracial context of Queens, New York. In July 2011, demographic shifts reached a “tipping point”, in which minority births1 outnumbered the births of white children for the first time (Tavernise 2012). An American polity consisting of a plurality of groups, and a political landscape influenced by nonprofits and more diverse political actors, provide a compelling rationale for additional research on political incorporation of immigrant groups.