Feelings of vulnerability have resonated with the Hindu American community since the recent murders of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas and Harnish Patel in South Carolina. Last Friday, I met with a group of young, Hindu friends for dinner. Quickly turning to politics, we discussed how we would interact with TSA agents if they overstepped their bounds. How willing were we to assert our constitutional rights vs. incurring potential retaliation by law enforcement?

Two things struck me about this conversation.

First, this was not a new conversation to have in America. The African-American community has long had to grapple with how to interact with law enforcement. Our TSA conversation paled in comparison to the Talk that Black parents have with their children regarding police encounters.

Second, we had striking privilege: casual political talk amongst four educated young professionals in liberal Boston over kale flatbread pizza and craft cocktails.

Hindu Americans have risen up to speak against recent hate crimes. However, these events must be considered in the context of two relationships. The first is the complex relationship between Hindu America and Republican politics. The second is the relationship, or lack thereof, between Hindu Americans and other social justice movements. Resolving the questions surrounding these two relationships is essential to achieving solidarity and developing partnerships to achieve social justice today.

Hindu Nationalism And Trumpism

Historically, Indian-Americans have overwhelmingly supported the Democratic party, with only 16% voting for Mitt Romney in 2012 (data were not stratified by religion). We do not yet have 2016 election breakdown data, but Hindu groups, in the United States and India, supported Donald Trumps campaign . This support has often been explained by ideological agreement with conservative economic and social policies. The emergence of Trump highlighted uglier aspects of this alliance: anti-Islamic, anti-Pakistani and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Right-wing Hindu Nationalism has a far reach and this ideology shares much with Trumpism. Both paint the religious majority (Hindus in India and Christians in America) as the aggrieved party, facing an onslaught from globalist, liberal, politically correct, minority groups. In Trump, conservative Hindus see a leader in the meld of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a nationalist strongman with concerning ties to violent Hindu terrorists.