MEDIA: USA TODAY quotes Vikram Mansharamani
'I'm one of you': Why Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy matter to Indian American voters in 2024
Excerpt mentioning Dr. Mansharamani:
Republican businessman Vikram Mansharamani, 49, wrote in a Substack newsletter last year − after he announced he was running for the U.S. Senate seat for New Hampshire in the 2022 midterms − that he was blessed to have been born in the U.S., where his parents immigrated after suffering from violence and poverty in India.
However, he said that he doesn’t particularly care for “identity-driven politics.”
“I don't think of myself as a first-generation Indian,” Mansharamani, who lives in Lincoln, New Hampshire, said. “I don't think of myself as an Indian American. I think of myself first and foremost as an American.”
Mansharamani argued that people need to develop a sense of identity that is based on the commonality of American ideals − that everyone is capable and has opportunities to excel.
“What I seek is a diversity of perspectives...however, you need to have some basis of comparison that is not racially based for diversity,” Mansharamani told USA TODAY, highlighting similar comments from Ramaswamy on merit and excellence. "It's focused on doing well regardless of your skin color… that's the way I think about it, which is, you know, race and identity, who you are, how you feel what you've experienced in the world all comes through into your perspective."