By 2050, US may have Prez of Asian origin

In less than 40 years, America might have a President of Asian origin drawing on a support-base of 17.3 million immigrant population. Paramita Ghosh reports.

In less than 40 years, America might have a President of Asian origin drawing on a support-base of 17.3 million immigrant population.

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According to a Pew Research projection, by 2050, an estimated 37% of the US population will be immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Second-generation Asian-Americans are, in fact, “typical Americans” in the way they live, love and work vis-à-vis their parents and children of other racial groups.

The 3.18 million-strong Indian American community are, by and large, doing well.

Bhavna Devani, 29, a manager with eBay in the US and a second-generation Indian said she “had travelled internationally by age two, was exposed to cultures ranging from Mexican to Indonesian by 13, was driving a car at 16.”

When her mother was 29, she had three kids and was “living in a foreign country (the US) via arranged marriage to my father.

She learned a new culture and a new language and explored her opportunities, but did not have the slogan “I can do anything” ingrained into her”.

Indian Americans lead all other groups by a significant margin in their levels of income and education.

The problem with such generalisation is that it overlooks the large Asian refugee populations from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, for example, who lead difficult lives in the US, points out Navine Murshid, assistant professor, Colgate University, NY, who is working on a book on migration.