A Point in Favor of a Bobby Jindal Presidency
[In Mandarin]
Random Stranger: “Where is he from?”
My In-laws: “He’s from the U.S.”
Stranger: “But he’s not white! …Oh, right. He’s like Obama.”
Some version of this has happened a dozen times, always with Obama being part of the sensemaking. There are plenty of NBA games broadcast here, so they must have known that black people exist in America. But there are also black people on the Chinese basketball teams, so I can understand why they wouldn’t take the NBA as evidence that non-whites exist in large numbers in the U.S.
A president is different. Chinese know that Americans vote for their president, so a black president getting elected means something to to them that the popularity of Chris Rock never could.
I’m really not like Obama, but I confess that it’s an unexpected perk of his presidency that I can go to China and people find it plausible that I’m an American. I can understand why people might be surprised by my identity, but that understanding doesn’t make my subsequent attempts at justifying myself any less exhausting. And I’ve never been secure enough in my self to suppress my instinct to be offended by the line of questioning.
So, thanks, Obama. You’ve made visiting China a little better for me.
But the same issue still exists within the US, though mostly when I stray from major metropolitan areas. White Americans are race-savvy enough to not make the categorical error of thinking I’m like Obama.
Photo credit: Pete Souza
And that makes me wonder what could a Bobby Jindal presidency do? If he became president and people understood at least the broad strokes of his history, would I get an “Oh, you’re like Bobby Jindal”?
Imagine what someone like Hilary as president might do for your daughter.
(How is she? And you & Mrs. Bath? Welcome back, I’ve missed your contributions.)Report
It’s difficult to know how things will shake out for her. When I was younger I would often reference the fact that I was born in the US, but others would argue that what was important was that they had some number of generations of ancestors from the US. In her case, she’s not born in the US, but maybe she’ll be able to make use of the fact that she has a parent who was.
Really though, I think people who want to question you will find a reason to question you. As I obliquely mentioned in the post, I think the problem was ultimately under my control because I wasn’t secure in my own identity. Hopefully she won’t have that problem and can just not care what other people think.
(She’s doing well. She even got along with the dog surprisingly well. (We got back yesterday. I wrote the above while in China; my next several posts will probably be me working through some things I wrote there. I’ve missed this site.)Report
Sorry i dont see the logic in saying that Hillary would help VB’s daughter in the same way obama helped VB.Report
Not. Worth. It. The man is a barking idiot.Report
He is even worse than that! He is a smart guy willing to play barking idiot to rise fast and quickly in GOP politics!Report
I think everyone who runs for political office has to bat at well below the average IQ of the average voter if they want to have a chance of appealing to enough people to actually win.Report
@vikram-bath at local and state levels, and some members of Congress, bring that into doubt. Sometimes, real nimrods run (and win) offices because of particularly unengaged voters. And sometimes, because of engaged voters, too.Report
No doubt. I meant to say that they bat below the average IQ of the average irrespective of their own IQ. I did not mean to say that they are all batting below their own IQs!Report
I’d take that over honest stupidity.
Also over rampant law-breaking for a political campaign.Report
You shouldn’t want a president that makes your life better.
You should want a president that will make the lives of everyone else better, however intangibly.Report
That might be a good policy. Make the disappointment less personal.Report
Aziz Ansari talks about this.
“Where are you from?”
“North Carolina.”
“No… Where are you FROM?”
Also, I owe you an email!Report
Actually I owe you an update. I found a solution!Report
That was a running joke on Parks and Rec. He had a green card marriage, because his white and conventionally beautiful wife was Canadian, but people assumed it was the other way around (“Because you’re from Libya, right”?)
Also, Aziz is from South Carolina, as is Stephen Colbert. Speaking of prejudices, I have to admit those two made me reevaluate what I thought I knew about the place.Report
I didn’t know Vikram was an exorcist.Report
Actually, the exorcism thing is a point in favor of North’s assessment above.
It might just have been unexamined religious beliefs though rather than a reflection of whether he was actually stupid. It’s unclear whether he continues to be that thoughtless (and cruel, frankly) as an adult.Report
I live in Louisiana and have been subjected to the machinations of Piyush Jindal since he was the savior for Louisiana’s health system under Governor Foster. I have never thought that he was stupid. I do think he is a vile little rat that ranks below pond scum. I do think he would do or say anything to gain more power. I also believe he has done a great deal of damage to the state of Louisiana.
If you want to know more about our illustrious governor then I suggest CenLamar and The Daily Kingfish.
One question; Jindal says that life starts at conception. If that is true and Piyush was conceived in India does that make him an Indian and thus not able to run for president of the US?Report
Referring to Bobby Jindal as Piyush is pretty close to the equivalent of the tendency of some conservatives to emphasize Obama’s middle name.Report
Will, I think we ought to be forgiving, considering this:
I live in LouisianaReport
I consider Dexter to be an upright guy, and I do believe he dislikes Jindal other other bases. I’m trying to be critical of the act, and not him personally (though I might have failed at that).Report
He was great playing the intern on 30 Rock.Report
@will-truman , The difference is that I don’t hate Jindal because he has more melanin than the average Swede. I hate him because he is a lying little viper and a loathsome human who cares about nothing but his rise to power and who, in his desire for said power, has done a great deal of damage to my state.
Like a lot a republicans (Baby Bush et al) who take power, he came to power with a balanced budget and has managed to pretty much bankrupt the state. Because of Jindal’s tax policies we are facing a huge deficit this year and Jindal wants to sell more of the state’s assets. What he is doing to the university system ought to be a crime. His sand berm for the oil spill cost the state millions and last weeks and I could go on but if you care, please go to the aforementioned blogs. They are much more articulate and thorough.Report
I get it, your animus isnt racial but those who call obama Hussein, theres is racially motivated, because they are republicans, wink wink.Report
People who refer to the president as B Hussein Obama often say the same thing. More often than not I actually believe the speaker would hate him if he was white (because they sure hated Clinton) . Sometimes it was just an appeal to racism rather than racist thoughts on the part of the speaker (an appeal that at least arguably delayed Jindal’s governorship by four years). Whatever the case, it’s going out of the speaker’s way to emphasize the subject’s otherness.
He goes by Bobby and not Piyush.Report
More often than not I actually believe the speaker would hate him if he was white (because they sure hated Clinton) .
I think there may be a third alternative here: president/governors supporting policies that supposedly take money from hard-working folk and transferring it to people with higher levels of melanin.Report
Yeah right Will, there were so many congress critters calling Clinton a liar during the state of the union. As soon as the great Bobby Jindal deserves respect I will be more than glad to give him some. Also, I work construction in the South and am subjected to rednecks on a daily basis and have heard Obama called things that were never said about Clinton.
During my dark days I am slammed by the fact that the three most powerful men in my state are Diaper Boy Vitter, Double Bill Cassidy and Piyush (aka Bobby) Jindal a man who so desperately want to be white that he lightens some of his photos. As soon as they have done the time for their crimes I will call them whatever they want to be called.Report
Emphasizing someones foreignness doesn’t suddenly become cool cause you think they’ve got it coming. Or cause you’ve got some liberal halo on. Referring to the diaper comes across at sneering at Vitter for his sexual proclivities (and hypocrisy), which… well okay. Piyush comes across as sneering at Jindal for having Indian parents who gave him an Indian name,which… something not okay.Report
It is definitely not OK.Report
At the risk of piling on, it is most certainly not okay.
And I’ll say it bothers me to no end when liberals engage in this form of racism and justify it because, well, conservative brown folks are the wrong kind of brown folks.Report
… or sexism or homophobia or etc…Report
Hi! Congratulations!!! I haven’t visited the site much in the past six or eight months so I’m surprised to hear about Baby Bath (and I totally get what you mean about missing OT). China?! Fun!
Gosh, I hope I get to see you again! Bring the wife and baby to the next Leaugefest. 🙂Report
Thanks!
Yeah, I was in China for 7 weeks. I tried learning some Mandarin, but I wasn’t able to work on it consistently. She sometimes gets frustrated with me for not understanding her. Baby Bath is actually almost three, so she’s not that much of a baby. I think I’ll stick with that as a nickname though.
I’ll ask them to come! I’m not optimistic that they will though since my mother-in-law came back with us and probably can’t manage staying here alone.Report
Bobby gave himself the nickname of Bobby, in honor of Bobby Brady.
#FunFactReport
Interestingly, I know two other guys with Indian names who informally changed it to some abbreviation of Robert.Report
There’s also the British comedian named Leslie who, when he emigrated to the US, became Bob. Of course, no one remembers him, because he wasn’t Jewish.Report
That’s just wrong. You can’t give yourself a nickname.Report
@will-truman , Here’s the funny thing, I don’t consider Jindal foreign. He is as much an American as I am. I have said it before on this blog but I will repeat now for all to see “Melanin does not matter”. I dislike Jindal because, in my opinion, he is a vile man. I am sorry if I offended anybody, but the thought of Jindal as president makes me justifiably apoplectic.Report
Dexter, it’s cool. Like I said above, I think you’re a stand-up guy. I would prefer another nickname, though. The “Kenny the Page” reference SN alludes to doesn’t rub me the wrong the same way, and doesn’t have the associations. No problem with the fact that you dislike him greatly. I know many Louisianans who feel that way, left right and center.Report
doesn’t rub me the wrong the same way
But it rubs you wrong generally speaking?
Also, bad job by me referring to him as an intern when he was a page.Report
Damn, I thought you meant Jonathan.Report
I’m not a big fan of quippy names for public officials in any event (didn’t like Shrub or Billy Jeff, either). But that’s far more an aesthetic thing. Some are more genuinely bad than others.Report
@will-truman
Except with Jindal the “quippy name” isn’t based on his name; it is based on his speaking and his mannerisms. Considering how quickly the meme spread, I think it is fair.Report
The point is that when you use a personal characteristic of someone as a basis for an insult or criticism, there’s an implication that characteristic is a valid basis for criticism.Report
Pretty much this.Report
“Melanin does not matter”
Slogan of the melanin-deficient everywhere.Report
@vikram-bath If you truly believe that, then there is a distinct possibility that you have never bothered to read anything in American Renaissance.Report
Try telling me that after falling asleep at the beach with no sunscreen on.Report
I dunno, @vikram-bath . Are you like Bobby Jindal? Seems to me you’re a lot more thoughtful than he is and you draw intellectual sustenance from a much more heterogenous pool of information than he does.
If it’s just a question of well, you and he kinda look alike, wouldn’t Nikki Haley be just as good?Report
Well, I’m talking about superficial encounters with superficial people judging me on superficial criteria. I probably have a lot more things that matter in common with anyone commenting here than I do with any politician, but that isn’t what people who want to question where you are *really* from use as a criterion.
So, yeah, it is just that we kinda look alike.
Nikki Haley would perhaps accomplish the same thing, though we probably look somewhat less alike. I get the impression though that Jindal is definitely running for president but Haley probably won’t.Report
From Wikipedia:
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana’s 1st district
Preceded by David Vitter
Succeeded by Steve Scalise
What the hell is wrong with those voters?Report
@vikram-bath I went to China during Obama’s first term. I started taking to some guy, and of course he wanted to talk about Obama when he found out I was American. I wasn’t very good at Chinese, and had never seen Obama’s name written in Chinese, so I was very confused for few minutes when he said (paraphrasing, badly) ????????????Report
How come the spammers can post Chinese and I can’t? What he actually said was a bit less confusing than that: Shi yige hen qiguai de ma! Bu neng shang!Report
Ken yen bur sur ti fi get!Report
For the last time, he’s not Kenyan.Report
Oh. Wait. That was the joke. Took me a while.Report