The Rise of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswami: Meritocracy and Model Minority Myth

As Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy vie for the Republican presidential nomination, Indian American reporter and memoirist Prachi Gupta joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan put these politicians into historical perspective. She discusses how the myth of Indian American exceptionalism has been used to further white supremacy and suppress other minority groups, and also analyzes how Haley and Ramaswamy perpetuate the misguided notion of the U.S. as a meritocracy. Gupta discusses the role that class and caste has played in immigration from India; how gender affects diaspora politics; the appeal of assimilation and hierarchy; and the performance of authenticity. She reads from her debut memoir, They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies that Raised Us.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Prachi Gupta

• They Called Us Exceptional
• AOC: Fighter, Phenom, Changemaker
• “Vivek Ramaswamy and the lie of the ‘model minority’” | Vox
• “Kamala Harris and the Complicated, Burdened Joy of Representation” | Jezebel



Others:

• Latest political polls from 538
• “The mystery of Vivek Ramaswamy’s rapid rise in the polls” by Steven Shepard, August 12, 2023 | Politico
• “Who won the third Republican debate? Winners and losers after things got nasty in Miami” by Karissa Waddick |USA Today
• “Despite Nikki Haley’s back and forth, the Civil War was about slavery” by Ben Brasch | The Washington Post
• “Nikki Haley's latest campaign ad focuses on her husband Michael's service with the National Guard. Meet their family.” by Talia Lakritz | Business Insider
• “Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole' countries” by Ali Vitali, Kasie Hunt and Frank Thorp V, January 11, 2018 | NBC News
• “Vivek Ramaswamy takes questions about his Hinduism — one Bible verse at a time” by Alex Tabet, Katherine Koretski and Emma Barnett | NBC News
• Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5 Episode 6, “Nadifa Mohamed on Writing the Convoluted Terrains of Immigration”
• South Asian Digital Archive
• Desi Wall of Shame
• “Ramaswamy Pushes Fringe Idea About Jan. 6 at Town Hall in Iowa” by Anjali Huynh | The New York Times
• Rupi Kaur

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