With everything that has been going on in this country, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what representation means. What representation in places of power and influence means. There is a particular section in Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming King, that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind. This section of his stand-up represents so much of the struggle minorities face in this country and how each generation faces this oppression. And, my struggle is also represented here. I encourage you to watch it on Netflix.
As children of immigrants, the difference in how my parents and I react to discrimination is different. it’s crazy how thinking changes between generations. My parents definitely have the same mentality as Hasan’s parents had to discrimination: “That’s the price we pay for being here” It’s the “American dream tax”. And my whole life, they’ve been happy to pay.
My parents’ generation would be happy with Indians simply being present in positions of influence. Because for them — this IS progress. But for my generation, this type of representation isn’t enough. That’s not the progress we’re fighting for. We want intersectional policies that will fundamentally change law and thus change the direction of our lives.
Because as Minhaj points out, we have the “audacity of equality”.
What does that mean to me? I’ve been thinking about representation and what it means a lot — and struggling with it because of Veepstakes. I get why having a VP that is a POC means so much to the older generation. But to my generation, being equal means more than just having someone of my skin color in a position of power. What good is that, if they don’t enact changes that affect my life? We ask for more.
Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and Ayanna Pressley are considered stars of my political generation. But I truly believe it’s not just because they are POC, but because they understand and advocate for policies that would change my life. They support policies that would structurally change laws and would promote equality at a different level. It’s one thing to have someone of my skin color in a higher position, but it means something else when they want to change laws that will help me and the people coming up behind me. As Ayanna Pressley says, “policy is my love language”. And good policy means more than just simple representation.
So yeah, representation matters — but how someone uses that representation matters too. It’s the biggest reason I wish Joe Biden will pick Elizabeth Warren for VP. Because, in this time when so much of our country is torn — we need someone who truly understands bold, systemic change. Who understands that the minutia of policy and government is important. Someone who’s plans included things that would systematically change how this country would work. My generation wants and expects more from representation.
To be very clear, I mean to take nothing away from other VP prospects. I know many will see this as a comparison between Harris and Warren (the two most promising candidates) — but it’s not. Like I said earlier, I understand why the older generation thinks Harris in office would be progress. Their life experience is different than mine. And I know she’d even make a fine VP. But the changes my generation so desperately needs (student loan relief, healthcare reform, systemic changes in government) — I just think Warren has better experience with it.
In the end, this is going to be Biden’s administration. It is going to be his ideas and his policies. But I really hope, whoever is in his ear, is someone who is representative of the systemic changes my generation sorely needs. Biden said he wanted to be the bridge between the “old” and “new”. And as he continues to build his administration, I hope he keeps in mind that the younger generation demands more.
