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25 June 2015
- From the section India
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s announcement that he is entering the Republican presidential race has become the subject of online mockery.
Mr Jindal launched his campaign with a call for a uniform US identity, saying he disliked Americans being identified by origin, ethnicity or wealth.
The hashtag #BobbyJindalisSoWhite began trending on Twitter after the launch.
The tweets poked fun at Mr Jindal’s speech and alleged attempts to distance himself from his Indian heritage.
“We are not Indian-Americans, African-Americans, Irish-Americans, rich Americans, or poor Americans. We are all Americans,” he told supporters.
Also a subject of ridicule was the fact that Mr Jindal railed against allowing “people to immigrate to this country so that they can use our freedoms to undermine our freedoms”.
He added it was incumbent on migrants entering the United States to be “ready and willing to embrace our values, learn English, and roll up your sleeves and get to work”.
The presidential hopeful had begun his speech with the words: “Forty-four years ago, a young couple who had never been on an airplane before left their home on the other side of the world to come to a place called America.”
Indians online were not amused by the remarks.
The original hashtag #bobbyjindalissowhite was started by Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu, with a series of tweets. Following the success of the tag he said it was the most “satisfying thing” he had ever done.
Others chimed in, like Aasif Mandvi from the Daily Show.
The hashtag was also picked up in India, where it was among the country’s top trends for much of the day.
Analysis: Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Louisiana
Gopinath Gopalam, a healthcare professional from Baton Rouge, travelled to New Orleans to watch Bobby Jindal make his presidential announcement on Wednesday. Although Gopalam hails from India, he says the governor’s Indian ancestry is of little importance to him. What matters, he says, is what his success says about the US.
“It’s an open economy, open community,” he says. “Anybody can come here and have the skill and ability they can rise to the top.”
The focus on Mr Jindal’s ethnicity in recent media coverage has angered many conservatives. In particular, they point to a Washington Post article that featured a quote from a Louisiana University professor who said “there’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal”.
“For years, liberals have attacked Governor Jindal for not being brown or Indian enough for their liking,” Mr Jindal’s office said in a statement. “Governor Jindal is proud of his heritage. He believes we need to stop fixating on race and hyphenated Americans.”
Mr Jindal, who was born Piyush, told CBS news that he changed his name to Bobby after a character in US sitcom The Brady Bunch.
He also converted to Catholicism from Hinduism while he was at school.
A report in the Washington Post said many Indian-Americans who were among his first supporters are now disillusioned with what they see as efforts by Mr Jindal to distance himself from his roots.
“So what if he’s Republican? So what if he’s Christian? I don’t care about those things, But you can’t forget about your heritage. You can’t forget about your roots,” one of his first donors Suresh C. Gupta was quoted as saying.
