Two American Women of Indian Descent Ran for President in 2024: One "Crashed and Burned"; The Other One May Become the 47th U.S. President

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted and Published on August 26, 2024; Updated on August 28, 2024

Former GOP Presidential candidate Nikki Haley (left); Vice President Kamala Harris (right).

An Editorial Opinion

Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, a/ka Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley, whose birth name is Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, is the daughter of Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa.  Her parents were Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, Punjab, India. 

Since Haley’s family migrated to America and located in South Carolina in 1969, Nikki Haley has consistently tried to pass for “White.”  Haley registered to vote in South Carolina as a “White” person.  She was elected as a Republican governor of South Carolina, twice

Despite a long history of claiming to be "Aryan" or "White," the U.S. States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the case of United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923) that Sikh Indians like Nikki Haley are not "White."  The Supreme Court soundly rejected the “Aryan racial purity” claim that fellow Sikh Bhagat Singh Thind argued in his case.  By law, Nikki Haley is “Colored.”

Nikki Haley ran for president in 2024 in the Republican primaries. She did not win a single primary. In March, Haley suspended her campaign. In July, Haley endorsed Donald Trump.

Kamala Devi Harris

Kamala Devi Harris is Vice President of the United States.  She is also the Democratic nominee for president in 2024.

Kamala Harris's father, Donald J. Harris, was a Jamaican American of African descent.  Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was an American of Indian descent.

Unlike Nikki Haley, Kamala Harris has never changed her birth name or tried to pass for "White."  

Since the 1600s, the rule of law in America regarding mixed race people is simple -- any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry ("one drop" of "black blood") is considered "Black" (“Negro” or “Colored” in historical terms).  This legal principle is called the "One Drop Rule." 

Under the “One Drop Rule,” Kamala Harris is legally classified as a “Black” American.

The only thing standing between Kamala Harris and the presidency of the United States is Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.  The most recent national polls have Harris narrowly leading Trump as they head into the November 5, 2024 election. 

Six swing states will determine whether Harris or Trump will become the 47th President of the United States.

A Person of Color Can Win the American Presidency

Thanks to Barack Obama, America has shown its willing to elect a president of color.  Obama won the presidency, twice. 

In this day and time, a major party candidate does not have to pretend to be "White" to win the U.S. presidency.  Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of Americans are NOT overtly racist on a conscious level.

Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential campaign "crashed and burned" just like former Louisiana governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

Former Louisiana governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal.

Jindal’s parents were immigrants from the same place in India where Haley’s parents came from.  Like Haley, Jindal pretended he was "White" when, in fact, he is “Colored,”by law.

Another 2024 Republican primary competitor of Indian descent, Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy, "crashed and burned" just like Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley. His parents were Hindu immigrants from India. Ramaswamy's effort to portay himself as a smart, young, charming, rich, naturally-tanned version of Donald Trump failed, miserably.

Failed GOP 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy.

Haley, Jindal, Ramaswamy, and their progeny will always be viewed as “Colored," especially if they continue pandering to the willful ignorance of the embedded racism within America's immigration laws.

Since 2008, America has proven that it is open to electing a “Colored” or “Black” president.  The only question left now is whether the Republican Party is ready for a “Colored” or “Black” presidential nominee. 

Based upon the high-profile manner in which Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy "crashed and burned" in the 2016 and 2024 Republican primaries, the definitive answer to this question is “No.”

Lessons Learned

In 2016 and 2024, the Republican Party nominated a man for the presidency who had six Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, a failed airline, a failed university that was later determined to be a scam, three failed casinos, three failed luxury hotels/resorts, a failed pandemic response in 2020 (that cost him re-election to the presidency), two Congressional impeachments, a court-issued Judgment against him for sexual assault, a court-issued Judgment against him for business fraud, and 34 jury trial criminal convictions over three highly-qualified, law-abiding, GOP candidates of Indian descent.  That nominee is Donald J. Trump, who happens to be White.

As Kamala Harris and other Blacks learned from the 1959 movie, "Imitation of Life," we do not have to pretend to be White to succeed in America. Most Americans accept us for who we are.

Americans of Indian descent like Nikki Haley, Bobby Jindal, Vivek Ramaswamy, and others with similar political aspirations need to learn this lesson, as well. They are "Colored" American citizens in a nation where White Christian Nationalism is incubating and spreading within the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, multiculturalism is flourishing across America and within the Democratic Party.