Don’t Ask Me to Hold My Horse Because Trump Hasn’t Conceded. Congratulations Madam Vice President!
- All indications are America will shortly have its first woman vice president and the first woman of color. To us millions of Indian Americans, this is historic on another level. Our very own chitti/didi/maasi will be that woman.
America will shortly have its first woman vice president and the first woman of color. To millions of Indian Americans, this is historic on another level! Our very own chitti/didi/maasi will be that woman!
Madam Vice President has such a nice ring to it! And more so when history is about to be made – the first woman Vice President, the first woman of color and the first Indian American woman of Jamaican descent. Don’t ask me to hold my horse because Donald Trump hasn’t conceded, and Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia are still counting. But let me have toast to this historic moment that seems inevitable!
I started my election day morning, worried, dejected and less hopeful than I remember I was in 2016. Back then I was full of hope, optimism and convinced of a Hillary Clinton win — the first ever Madam President. It did not happen – I went to bed miserable and cried, took the day off work as the future suddenly seemed grey and bleak on the political front at least.
This time around I have Biden and Kamala Harris but I was not confident. Apprehension was my best friend, and unless Trump concedes and leaves, it will continue to be so. My friend John King at CNN is doing what he does best – making my apprehensions continue to grow. Right now, he is busy predicting the votes from the aforementioned states – city level and state level – along with Wolf Blitzer, another friend on TV since my days as a wide-eyed Green card holding immigrant.
I am a citizen now. Greatly and hugely invested in the future of this country and as a global citizen of the world, wanting to see my son’s generation living the dream and living in a work with clean air, where science and math are real deals and where the color of his skin will not determine his future like millions of Black Americans live with in fear of.
We will stop being the laughing stock of this world, we will be back in the Paris Accord for Climate Change; we will have better relations with our neighbors Mexico and Canada; and hopefully we will be able to reunite the 500 children snatched at the border with their parents.
The cynic in me knows things are not going to improve much — politicians are politicians. American foreign policy is not likely to take an about-turn; Republicans or Democrats, Israel will continue to be our priority and the hell-hole that Palestinians live in day in, day out will continue to be a hell-hole. Islamic fundamentalism is not likely to fall off the political and social lexicon.
But we will stop being the laughing stock of this world, we will be back in the Paris Accord for Climate Change; we will have better relations with our neighbors Mexico and Canada; and hopefully we will be able to reunite the 500 children snatched at the border with their parents. Obama Care will not be a taboo, a woman’s right to choose will be alive and well. And above all, our children will again see that decency and empathy matters, especially in our leaders.
Meanwhile, the collective pride and happiness of Indian Americans can be felt across the social media, in small enclaves and within homes. Indian Americans, the model minority for the longest time, who have steadfastly improved their public service presence over the decade, stepping out of the conventional arenas of medicine, law, academia and information technology, will now be a step closer to the highest office of the land. Our very own chitti will be that someone. Little girls will be dressing up in pearls and pantsuits, dreaming of being Madam President.
And when Kamala Harris is sworn-in come January, she will thank all those other women who helped pave that path to the highest office for her and other women of color – women like Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and yes, Hillary Clinton!
Kuhu Singh lives in Eden Prairie, Minn., a suburb of the Twin Cities. Bidding adieu to journalism a decade ago, she nonetheless loves to write and express her very strong opinions on social media and blogs and sometimes in a few Indian publications. She is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager for a broadcast retail company. Race relations, diversity, social issues fascinate and roil her into action. She volunteers her time with certain political organizations and community organizations.