Nikki Haley | American Turban

Nikki Haley and race identification: If being “Asian” is wrong, is it right to write “White”?

August 9, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Academic and blogger Amardeep Singh offers his perspective on the issue of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s identification of herself as “White” on a voter registration card despite her South Asian and Sikh origins: Isn’t it fair that some South Asian Americans with little connection to South Asian culture or language would see themselves (and be seen as) “white” by others in their communities? Isn’t it possible to be of South Asian origin and “white” at the same time? Amardeep […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Amardeep Singh, Nikki Haley, South Carolina

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley: first not a Sikh, now not even Asian

July 29, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“When she registers to vote she says she is white. She has developed a pattern of saying whatever is beneficial to her at the moment,” he said. “She can’t even tell the truth about her racial heritage.” — South Carolina’s Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian brings up Governor Nikki Haley’s inconsistencies in reporting her identity. Haley is often trumpeted in being the first female Indian American governor in the United States, and that from a Sikh family. She has openly used her […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Dick Harpootlian, Nikki Haley, South Carolina

San Francisco Republican Party elects Sikh woman as chair

April 6, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Well, the GOP Party of San Francisco unanimously elected me, an orthodox Sikh with a funny name, to be its chairwoman. So, as far as I’m concerned, it’s never been an issue here in my rise through the ranks of the party. To the contrary, I’d say that members of my party have actively reached out and encouraged me to run for leadership positions. I’m the chairman of outreach for the California Republican Party statewide. The party asked me to […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Ajit Singh Randhawa, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Harmeet Dhillon, Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, North Carolina, San Francisco, South Carolina, Trilochan Singh Oberoi

A “nikki” footnote, cont’d

December 29, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A recently published letter to the editor of a Philadelphia-area newspaper laments the Republican Party’s growing focus to be more inclusive of non-white minorities (at the expense of the white majority), using South Carolina’s Governor-elect Nikki Haley as an example: But the GOP leadership is just as obsessed with diversity and skin color as white liberals are; in fact, they seem almost embarrassed to be the de facto party of whites, and they work hard to change this image. They have made inroads […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Nikki Haley, Republican Party, South Carolina

California, put your legislation where your money is, cont’d

December 2, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Kamala Harris, who just claimed victory in the State of California’s Attorney General race, intends to look into the Trilochan Singh Oberoi case: Harris also said she would “absolutely” look into the case of Trilochan Singh Oberoi, a former Indian naval officer who is being denied a job as a security guard at Folsom State Prison because he refuses to shave off his beard. Harris, who is part Indian (her mother is a surgeon from Tamil Nadu in India) and part […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: California, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Folsom Prison, Jerry Brown, Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, Trilochan Singh Oberoi

A “nikki” footnote

November 3, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Nikki Haley (formerly Nimrata Kaur Randhawa) will be noted in history as South Carolina’s first female Governor, and of Indian American descent to boot: ‘But what I want this to be is that we’re turning a page. We’re turning a page on where we’ve been, but the history is going to be on where we’re going to go.’ Indeed, she has turned the page on quite a few things. She has gone on public record to disassociate herself from her Indian – […]

Categories: Politics • Tags: Nikki Haley, South Carolina

American Turban

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Nikki Haley