The vice president, whose departure from the scene of Joe Biden has launched into the race for the White House, has always claimed ties to her Tamil Nadu origins. When she welcomed Modi last year, she said she had learned her passion for democracy from her grandfather in Chennai. The story of her mother Shyamala Gopalan is an emblematic example of the rise of this community among American citizens of Asian origin.
Washington (/Agencies) – Joe Biden’s step back from the race for the White House is currently focusing the world’s attention on Kamala Harris and the current vice president’s chances of becoming Donald Trump’s Democratic rival in the November presidential election. From an Asian perspective, the press is focusing primarily on the Indian roots of the 59-year-old former attorney general of California, who is hoping to become the first female president of the United States. Kamala Harris is in fact the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, a researcher originally from Tamil Nadu who came to the United States in 1958, at the age of 19, to study biology at the University of Berkeley, like generations of young Indians who have built successful careers in the United States.
According to the latest census data, there are 4.4 million American citizens of Indian origin, and that number has grown by 50% between 2010 and 2020. Among Asian-origin groups, they are now surpassed only by Chinese-Americans, who number 5.2 million.
A scientist with a distinguished career in breast cancer research, Shyamala Gopalan, who died in 2009, passed on to Kamala – her eldest daughter, born in 1964 to the African-American economist of Jamaican origin Donald Harris – a deep pride in her Tamil roots. “Our classical Indian names,” says the current US vice-president in her autobiography, referring to herself and her sister Maya, “were reminiscent of our heritage, and we were brought up with a strong awareness and appreciation of Indian culture.” Although she allowed them to attend a black Baptist church, Shyamala made sure that they also knew about the Hinduism that she professed.
When she welcomed Indian Prime Minister Modi to the White House last year, Kamala Harris recalled that after her parents’ divorce when she was five, she spent time in Chennai with her maternal grandparents every year. She also spoke of the strong bond she has with her grandfather PV Gopalan, an Indian civil servant who, among other things, worked on the rehabilitation of refugees who came to India from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) after the traumatic experience of “separation” following independence.
Speaking to Modi, she said that her grandfather, now retired, would take her with him on morning walks, during which he and his friends would reminisce about “stories about freedom fighters, about the founding fathers of the nation and India’s independence.” Memories that spoke of the importance of fighting corruption and for equality, regardless of creed or caste. “My grandfather,” she added, “taught me not only what it means to have a democracy, but also to keep it alive. And I think it was precisely these lessons that inspired my interest in public affairs.”
In the same conversation with Narendra Modi during the official reception, Kamala Harris referred to her mother’s life and stated that through forms of scientific and technological cooperation, “India’s global engagement has not only benefited the Indian people, but also the people of the United States and the entire world.”
The newspaper The Hindu remember today that her victory in 2020 as Joe Biden’s vice president in the presidential election was celebrated in Thulasendrapuramin, her mother’s home village, in Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu. Villagers set off firecrackers, distributed sweets and drew colourful kolamas in front of their houses. They also celebrated a bid special thanksgiving at the Hindu temple, for which they called the “daughter of the village.”
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