What it means for Indian Americans that Kamala Harris is on a major party’s presidential ticket

Kamala Harris is both the first Black woman and the first South Asian woman to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket. Her mother is Indian. Her first name, Kamala, means “lotus flower” in Sanskrit. For many members of the Indian American community, Tuesday was a powerful and emotional day, when Harris was officially introduced as Joe Biden’s running mate.

“Indian American Republicans were claiming that President Trump would win the Indian American vote. But that task, I think, has been made near-impossible now,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, who teaches political science and public policy at the University of California, Riverside.