Vivek Ranaswamy is a right wing Indian Racist who got Don Lemon fired for calling him out on being a racist
His beliefs have nothing to do with the rest of the article
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NewsOpinionColumnsVamsee Juluri writes: Liberal America's refusal to recognise racism against Hindus is pushing them away from Democrats
Vamsee Juluri writes: Liberal America’s refusal to recognise racism against Hindus is pushing them away from Democrats
Many avowedly anti-racist white liberals in America find it convenient to forget that the Hindu immigrants they freely denigrate as fascists happen to be people of colour who have no way of escaping the physical markings and vulnerabilities of race
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Written by Vamsee Juluri
Updated: July 13, 2023 20:59 ISTNewsguard
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Vivek Ramaswamy US Hinduism
Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was asked recently about his spiritual beliefs. He identified himself unhesitatingly as a Hindu and explained that both Christianity and Hinduism believe in a true God who resides in everyone. (Photo: AP)
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Two events suggesting the quickly changing place of Hindus in American politics happened last week. One involved a Republican, and the other, a Democrat.
Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was asked recently about his spiritual beliefs. He identified himself unhesitatingly as a Hindu and explained that both Christianity and Hinduism believe in a true God who resides in everyone. Some differences in nuance, but the “punchline was the same”. It was a Gandhian sentiment, but quite post-Gandhian too. Ramaswamy drew a sharp contrast between “religions like ours which have withstood the test of time,” and progressive social justice movements (“wokeism”), which he dismissed as “cults”.
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Religion and politics are in a complex mix in today’s polarised America. Perhaps Ramaswamy’s words hint at cultural realignments in years to come, or not. It is evident, though, a moment has already come when a non-Christian Republican candidate feels confident that he needn’t change his name or religion to please Christian voters as others might have done in the past.
Also in Express Opinion | Hindu Americans have no voice. PM Modi’s meetings with US ‘thought leaders’ cannot change this fact
On the other hand, the relationship between the Democratic party and Hindus makes for a very different story. This is where the second incident comes in.
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On July 4, an Indian family attending an Independence Day fair in a deeply “Blue” county in California was confronted by a white, male protester (opposing a dissident Democrat) who suddenly asked them if they were Muslim or Hindus. Then, he demanded to know if they were Narendra Modi supporters. Despite being told no, he began screaming that they were fascists.
No one in the Democratic party booth, near which this incident happened, apologised. After all, when a foreigner is told “go back to your country,” the good American liberal is trained to call it racism. But when a brown-skinned foreigner is yelled at by a white American and called a “fascist,” no one knows whether it is indeed “racism” anymore, quite conveniently
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