Posted on 06/14/2010 6:15:04 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Nikki Haley, the favorite to become the first governor of South Carolina who is neither white nor male, has always challenged established norms with her own brand of moxie.
As a girl, her parents — the first Indian immigrants this small, working-class town had ever seen — entered Nikki and her sister in the Little Miss Bamberg pageant. The judges of the contest, one that crowned one black queen and one white queen, were so flummoxed that they simply disqualified Nikki and her sister, Simran — but not before Nikki, about 5, sang “This Land Is Your Land.”
Ms. Haley, 38, upended things again last week after a sharp-elbowed primary that included allegations of marital infidelity and pitted her against the lieutenant governor, the attorney general and a congressman. Ms. Haley, a state legislator, received 49 percent of the vote, but faces a June 22 runoff with Representative Gresham Barrett, whom she beat by more than 25 points Tuesday. And this from a campaign that was so underfinanced that it had to sell yard signs at $5 apiece, Ms. Haley said.
Now, she finds herself one of the brightest rising stars in the Republican Party, a Tea Party favorite, a Sarah Palin endorsee and the subject of national attention.
“I love that people think it’s a good story, but I don’t understand how it’s different,” she said in an interview Friday, in a voice with a faint watermark of Southern drawl. “I feel like I’m just an accountant and businessperson who wants to be a part of state government.”
Ms. Haley — born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa and always called Nikki, which means “little one,” by her family — said that growing up in Bamberg was at times tough.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I don't get why they would disqualify her, though. If they thought that Indian-looking girls wouldn't be appealing enough to win then they didn't need to do anything, and if they thought they WERE, what the heck were they doing disqualifying them? They're just inviting (justified) accusations of racism for no return.
I loaded the thread and happened to see the picture at #6 before reading the article or knowing she was Indian. My first thought when I looked at the picture was "She looks Indian". I looked at the Wiki picture and, like you, didn't have the same reaction. Not really my cup of tea either, but my point is that in certain photos she does come across as recognizably Indian.
The trick with photographing a woman like that is to give it a soft focus.
I think I’ll try to maintain some semblance of chivalry here and just drop the subject!
That’s right...the person who asked the question used the word “Caucasian” so I just followed along with it.
I realized the inconsistency after posting but I didn’t think anyone would notice. I should have known better — FReepers never miss a trick!
Also, back then some “experts” would characterize Australoids and Dravidians as “old white” groups withing the Caucasoid family.
Some are, some aren’t. Central asia is a mixed bag. I believe her parents are Punjabi which are. Khosla, one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems, is also Punjabi, I think.
“I hold with the original dfn.”
Me too. Some in the thread have talked about the current effort at genetic testing. It will be interesting to see where all these tribes originated from, who they are related to, how much interracial births there were, etc. etc.
The history of central asia will be re-written in the next twenty years.
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