The browning of America ... and blackness

Hari Kondabolu had a serious and comedic take on what Kamala Harris' elevation as the Vice Presidential candidate--back in August 2020--might mean for the Indian community.  He raised a troubling issue:

I wonder if Kamala Harris as VP will have any impact on the “No Blacks” marriage rule Indian immigrants set for their children.

— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) August 11, 2020

He added a clarifying tweet, in case he was misunderstood:

To clarify this tweet: This is a cynical comment on the anti-Black racism in the Indian community. This is not supporting such actions, but condemning them. It is not the most pleasant thing to talk about, but it’s about time our community did.

— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) August 13, 2020

The problem of colorism in India is pretty much common knowledge at this point; after all, it is a land of "Fair & Lovely."  Recall the vagina whiteners?

I grew up in that culture where the skin complexion was categorized in so many ways, like:
Coal black
Dark
Dark brown
Brown
Light brown
Wheatish
Fair
Very fair
And, yes, even white!

It is also a land in which we were all acutely aware of our castes and the castes of others.

When Indians immigrate to America, do they bring with them the baggage of colorism and caste?

Isabel Wilkerson made a compelling and insightful argument that immigrants often want to align themselves with the dominant caste here--Whites.  Overlay colorism on the highly race-sensitive society and, well, that's why Kondabolu tweeted that maybe Kamala Harris might be the ticket to the diaspora ditching the "No Blacks" marriage rule for their children.  Blindians don't have to be a rare species, right?

While Rusell Peters joked about the world becoming beige as a result of people mixing across the races, what if the non-white immigrants bring with them the anti-blackness baggage?

Charles Blow writes about this very issue that "when people migrate to this country from those societies, they can bring those biases with them, underscoring that you don’t have to be white to contribute to anti-blackness."

How depressing that the browning of America does not automatically mean an elimination of anti-blackness.  As Blow concluded, "Colorism and racism are cousins, and both are a pestilence."