C Raja Mohan writes: America’s struggle between exclusion and inclusion is far from over
The Indian Express · C. Raja Mohan ·
The United States remains a society in which the ideas of national belonging are constantly contested and repeatedly enlarged
The election of America’s first Muslim senator, the victories of African-American candidates in several gubernatorial races, the prospect of the first Black Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the growing legislative presence of Indian-Americans offer an important corrective to the recent Indian perception that America has become deeply racist.
The surge in anti-Indian rhetoric from sections of the populist MAGA movement has understandably angered Indians at home and in America. But to see the US only through the lens of racism is to miss the other side of its extraordinary political history: Its capacity to absorb outsiders and elevate them to the highest positions of public life.
America has always been a land of immigrants and a country deeply troubled by immigration. Its history is marked by repeated waves of hostility towards newcomers, followed by their gradual acceptance into the national mainstream. The tension between exclusion and inclusion has been central to the American political experience.
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