Samita Mukhopadhyay on Nikki Haley's win and the Republican Party:
"Model minority," is a strategic move on behalf of conservatives to play Asians against blacks and unfortunately it has been really effective and has lead to not only inter-community conflict, but also the perpetuation of the idea that South Asians in leadership positions in the Republican party is somehow "progress." But like there is no vagina litmus test, there is also no desi litmus test. If a candidate is obtusely opposed to the legislation, rights and freedoms I believe in, then no, I don't think this is a step in the right direction. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and give more credit to folks than is due.
I think Mukhopadhyay is being too sweeping here. It's possible to see it as progress on racial issues for Republicans to reject the attempt to make Haley an ethnic and religious "other" by calling her a "raghead," or suggesting she isn't Christian, because it forces Republicans to rethink knee-jerk associations about race and ideology. (This doesn't preclude also seeing a Haley win as bad because she would pursue bad policies.) I say this because Republicans tend to draw broad, negative conclusions about minorities in part because of their assumed political ideology -- hence the lengths minorities have to go to be accepted as ideological fellow travelers. Republican beliefs regarding race are necessarily called into question when they have to pull the lever for someone who doesn't look like them but shares their views.
Thus far, the GOP hasn't drawn enough people of color to really break those associations completely, (beyond simply viewing certain people of color as "exceptions") and it's hard to imagine how they draw that critical mass as long as the party continues to advocate for "colorblindness" when it comes to reducing inequality but race consciousness when it comes to directing coercive government force. But I'm not sure how the party begins to reject its history on matters of race without being forced into situations where their cultural prejudices clash with their political interests, and the Haley candidacy is one of them.
-- A. Serwer
