No Borders and Binaries

In his own words and now pandering to the South-Asian/Pacific Islander communities at a fundraiser in San Francisco:

Obama told the group - which included many Indian and Pakistani immigrants - that he is not only familiar with their cultures - but also proud of his lifelong association with them.

“Not only do I think I’m a Desi, but I’m a desi,” he said, using a colloquial term that describes South Asian immigrants. The remark was greeted with laughs. “I’m a homeboy.”

He said that when he went to Occidental College, his first roommate was Pakistani. And in his dorm, he said with a laugh, “Indians and Pakistanis came together under one roof … to cause havoc in the university.”

To applause, he said he became an expert at cooking dal and other ethnic dishes, though “somebody else made the naan,” the trademark Indian bread.

“Those are friendships which have lasted … for years, and continue until this day,” he said. “I have an enormous personal affection for the people of South Asia.”

“I’ve also had an orientation toward Asia and a recognition … that over time we are going to see … more economic growth” and an economic partnership with the United States that is strategic.

The dinner cost $2300 per person with the fundraiser making a record $7.8 million for the Barack Obama campaign. I never knew that wining and dining with the ‘common’ desi in our community could elicit such funds. Give me a break–The average Indian does not even like giving tips at a restaurant! If you don’t have $2300 in your pocket for him, I guess you don’t get to chill with the desi ‘homeboy.’ Don’t misunderstand me–I would rather hear carefully laid out plans and policy from him than quips and quotes to ‘fit-in’ and appear as ‘one of us’ that is just empty rhetoric at the end of the day.

Quit playing ‘identity politics’ Barack Obama! As Indian-Pakistanti Americans our biggest issue is with the horrible immigration mess in this country that does not allow a large number of educated students to exercise their skills and talents in America, forcing them to return to their countries or face employer abuse here. Are you going to expand the measly quota of 140,000 employer based green cards per year with Chinese and Indians limited to 9,800 of those visas right now? Lets not forget about the DREAM Act–we also have undocumented South Asian youth that live in the shadows, probably more ashamed of their undocumented status than any other group since it is a bigger stigma in the community. Of course, I am sure that none of the elitist Indians, Pakistanis and Pacific-Americans he dined with, brought up these issues.

Obama is also a Somalian elder when he needs to be. Maybe he is just a chameleon?

Talk about doing anything to get elected. Any guesses on his next identity?

Original image credit goes to Times of India.

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