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.
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This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.
Prachi Gupta
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