# I believe I have now figured out what it takes for a POC to be elected to national office in the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2020, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050 "2020-11-08T13:37:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/21 "2020-11-09T16:59:04Z")
Having looked it up the proper term is South Asian, as opposed to Southeast Asian. Learn something new every day! My point still holds: she is generally considered African American and not Asian or South Asian American because of a combination of two factors: A) historically American racism held to the “one drop rule” where a single black ancestor is enough to label someone “black”. B) Harris herself identifies as African American. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/22 "2020-11-09T17:07:20Z")
Northern Ireland peer [Lord John Kilclooney](https://twitter.com/KilclooneyJohn/status/1325833621530419200?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) has some thoughts about Harris. First he tweeted this: > [@](#): > > What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President. Who then becomes Vice President? Then, when a fairly predictable reaction occurred, he tweeted this: > [@](#): > > Whilst Biden is proud to be Irish and Harris is rightly proud of her Indian background I certainly withdraw my reference to her as an Indian as it seems to have upset some people. I did not know her name and identified her with the term Indian. Most people understood. Racist NO. I guess that settles that. It’s our fault for assuming he meant “the Indian” in a racist way. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/23 "2020-11-09T17:15:23Z")
That’s hilarious. And in later tweets, he tries to be holier-than-thou, “Why do many media commentators then describe her as a black person - that is pure racism!!” Edited to add, by way of defense, he said he has two Indian tenants in his flats, as if to say, “I can’t be racist; I allow them to live in the flats I let.” ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/24 "2020-11-09T17:18:53Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Because she is herself black, but she’s not herself Indian? > > India’s a specific country. The two terms aren’t equivalent. Obama’s black; and he’s of Kenyan ancestry; but he isn’t Kenyan. ‘Indian’ tends to be pretty ambiguous of a word. If I heard someone was Indian, and had no other context, it could mean one of three things in my mind: - They come from India - Their ancestors come from the Indian subcontinent - They have and identify with Native American ancestry Ignoring the third one, since it doesn’t apply in other cases, other nationalities don’t necessarily work the same way. If you told me someone was Kenyan, English, or Russian, I would assume they themselves were born in the relevant country. Chinese seems to work more like Indian. You could - and someone probably has - write a dissertation about what this means for identity, race, and ‘otherness’ in American society. > [@psychobunny](#): > > ( and probably most important) You must have a sister named Maya Obama only half-fulfilled this! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/25 "2020-11-09T17:32:53Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I guess that settles that. It’s our fault for assuming he meant “the Indian” in a racist way. In fairness, you have to be American to find out the VP’s name. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/26 "2020-11-09T17:36:52Z")
Yes, if she were being described as African-American and South Asian (or Indian), that would seem more parallel. Or Black and Asian. What I’m asking, apparently not as well as I’d intended, is to tease out the different valences of the meaning of the terms being used to describe her. I don’t know how she describes herself; my family was struck by the ways she was described by interviewees and commentators on election night, so I said I’d ask what Dopers think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/27 "2020-11-09T17:37:03Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > ( and probably most important) You must have a sister named Maya But what if the next candidate is actually half-Mayan? Is that a twofer? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/28 "2020-11-09T17:53:59Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But it does tend to over shadow wider diversity. That’s an amusing typo there, given the subject being discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/29 "2020-11-09T18:06:21Z")
How about “Black and Desi”? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/30 "2020-11-09T18:23:39Z")
For one thing, there seems to be disagreement over whether that’s offensive. > **[TD Bank takes down ads targeting South Asians after complaint about word...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/td-bank-takes-down-ads-targeting-south-asians-after-complaint-about-word-desi-1.4986910)** > > TD Bank has stopped running online advertisements that use the word "desi" to target the South Asian community after at least one person complained that the word is "offensive." (Yes, the complainant was also of Indian ancestry, before anybody jumps to conclusions. It may well depend on where in India the word’s being used.) For another, I suspect many people in the USA don’t know what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/31 "2020-11-09T18:31:39Z")
My impression is that the word is the Subcontinent’s equivalent of “Latino/Latina”, and like it, was largely unknown to the rest of the world until recently. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/32 "2020-11-09T18:44:19Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I can’t point to anything specific for Obama, because my memory is pathetic and it has been years since I read “Dreams of My Father,” but I recall thinking at the time that when he moved to Chicago he deliberately made himself at home in the Black community. Obama has made himself at home in every community he’s found himself in. To the nerds, he’s a nerd. To the jocks, he’s a jock. Heck, he managed to present himself as more Irish than a guy whose name starts with “Mc”. That skill is part of why he’s been so successful in politics. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/33 "2020-11-09T18:50:15Z")
O’Bama? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/34 "2020-11-09T18:58:25Z")
i have the march pin from the obama campaign that does have the above spelling on a shamrock. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/35 "2020-11-09T19:21:18Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > President Obama called Black when one of [his] parents is white. Obama identifies as Black, rather than simply being _called_ Black. He grew up as a Black American with that shared experience. The fact that half his genes are Caucasian is incidental. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050/36 "2020-11-09T22:26:18Z")
And if he tried to identify as white, how would that have gone over in 1950s America, 1960s America, 1970s, America, 1980s America, 1990s America, through today? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-i-have-now-figured-out-what-it-takes-for-a-poc-to-be-elected-to-national-office-in-the-us/925050.md?page=1)