Need to know with Dr. Nsenga Burton-Political Leaders and Their Immigrant Wives

BEP Narrator: 00:00:02

A Black Executive Perspective now presents Need to Know

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with the award winning hyphenated Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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Dr.

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Burton.

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What do we need to know?

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Dr. Nsenga Burton: Hello and

welcome to Need to Know with Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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I am happy to be here today to give you

some facts that you may need to know.

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Unless you've been living under

a rock, you have been following

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the political drama that has

played out as it relates to the U.

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S.

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presidential race.

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One of the important stories that

came out over the weekend, uh, is

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our former President, Donald Trump's

Selection for Vice President.

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And that is JD Vance.

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He's an author.

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He's a Senator from Ohio.

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Uh, and he's married to a very dynamic

woman, uh, an immigrant in fact.

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So, um, I find it interesting that

we have so much anti immigrant, uh,

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legislation being proposed from the GOP

when many of their leaders are actually

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married to immigrants, uh, including

our former President, Donald Trump.

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But, um, I just want to tell

you a little bit about her

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because she is quite dynamic.

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Um, she is.

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Uh, the daughter of Indian immigrants.

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Um, she was, uh, she

attended Yale for law school.

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She went to undergrad at Cambridge,

so she's very well educated.

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Um, she previously served as a law clerk

for chief justice, John Roberts Jr.

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of the U.

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S.

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Supreme court, uh, judge Brett

Kavanaugh, then of the U.

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S.

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court of appeals for the

district of Columbia circuit.

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As you know, he is also a Supreme

court justice and an, uh, And judge

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Amul Thapar, um, then of the U.

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S.

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district court for the

Eastern district of Kentucky.

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Um, that is what she has

been doing with her career.

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And then she became a partner

in a very important law firm as

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well, which she resigned from.

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Once the announcement was made, she grew

up in San Diego, California, uh, and again

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is the daughter of Indian immigrants.

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So what's interesting about this pick, JD

Vance, I think more people know more about

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him based on his book, Hillbilly Elegy.

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And I will say this, you

should read Hillbilly Elegy.

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I've read it.

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Um, it's an important book because it

gives you insight into where he comes

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from and what, uh, His life experiences

and how they have informed his ideology,

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which, of course, informs his policies.

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Um, he'll really elegy

is good in terms of.

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looking at the type of culture that

emerges from disenfranchised whites.

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These are whites who are mostly

impoverished, have been impoverished and

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have not been able to capitalize on white

privilege that exists in this country.

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Um, and so class is widely discussed in

here, but what's really interesting and

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why people should read the book, um, if

you haven't already, it's Is because it

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really, um, speaks to the behaviors, the

belief system and the practices of those

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who grew up in these regions, um, like

JD Vance who grew up in, uh, between,

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uh, Dayton and Cincinnati, um, which is

a very impoverished place and also, uh,

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home of the Ku Klux Klan in Ohio as well.

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Um, so you get a lot of insight into what

drives people, um, particularly white.

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Uh, men, um, who are angry and, uh,

disillusioned and feel that they have

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not, um, been given, uh, their rightful

place in American history, in American

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present and in the American future.

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Um, and so, you know, some people might

say, well, not sure why if in fact you,

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um, you know, have been in this country.

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But if, you know historically,

uh, the issue of class.

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Is very important here and, um, whites

have often been able poor whites have

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often scapegoated, uh, people of color,

black people, uh, native indigenous

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populations, um, and now immigrant

populations, uh, for the lack of,

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um, for their inability to capitalize

on what has really been a place that

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had very little competition for them.

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Um, in the, in the workplace

based on, uh, discriminatory laws

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that privileged other groups, um,

particularly white men over all others.

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So it's a really important read to

get into the psyche of if you care,

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some people don't, but if you care

and you want to know what is driving,

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um, you know, these supporters of

Trump, these supporters of, uh, kind

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of white supremacist ideology, these

supporters of, um, You know, what I

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would call a neo form of segregation,

um, the supporters of policies that

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erode civil rights protections and

that even erase, uh, people of color,

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immigrant communities from history

books and the many contributions that

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they've made, uh, to our country,

um, over the past, um, I would say

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over hundreds of years, if you're

talking about black folks, for sure.

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Um, so I think it's

interesting to think about how.

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This type of networking works, right?

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You've seen a lot of people

from Yale School of Law

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represented on the Supreme Court.

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When we think about diversity, a lot

of people think immediately gender

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diversity, racial diversity, sexual

identity, things of that nature, but

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they very rarely think geographically.

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They very rarely think about education.

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Um, is the Supreme Court really diverse?

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If most of the people on the Supreme

Court hold degrees, law degrees

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from the same schools, that's a

question you should ask yourself.

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Um, is it diverse?

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If you are getting people from a

particular law school that has, uh,

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that seems to have, um, it seems

to be producing people who are in

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support of, uh, disenfranchising.

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Populations of people historically and

otherwise, um, you know, it's interesting

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to look at the graduates of particular

schools, uh, and to see what they do.

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So, you know, to see that, um, J.

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D.

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Vance's wife, Usha and I think

I'm pronouncing it right.

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I think it's, Usha um.

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You know, is brilliant, uh, extremely

well educated, uh, is the child of

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immigrants, uh, is from California

and is partnered with someone like J.

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D.

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Vance.

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Um, I think you have to ask

those questions as well.

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Right?

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What does it mean?

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Um, in that way?

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One of the things I also wanted to

pose for you is also think about

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why Usha would be a more desirable.

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Indian, um, or person of Indian

descent, uh, then our current

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Vice President, Kamala Harris,

um, and Kamala kept her name.

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She did not change it.

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Uh, which is interesting when you

think about Nikki Haley and you think

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about other people who are of Asian

or East Indian descent, um, but,

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uh, you know, something that is,

Not talked about enough is the fact

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that anti black racism is worldwide.

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It's not something that just happens here.

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You know, I've met people who didn't know

that slavery happened all over the world.

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They think it just happened

in the United States.

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I've met people who think that Jim Crow

just happened in the United States.

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Um, you know, if you know anything

about apartheid, which is actually

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based on Jim Crow, if you know

anything about, um, Uh, the Holocaust.

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I mean, like, you know, it's happened all

over the world for long periods of time

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and to lots of different groups of people.

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Um, and so when you think about

anti black racism, um, which is

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pervasive, uh, in many cultures

around the globe, especially, uh,

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in India, uh, it is not unusual to

me that you would meet some people.

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Um, and of course, it's not all people.

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It's not all people, but some

people who are from that, those

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parts of the world, uh, who hold

those beliefs and those ideas.

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I don't know that to be

the case, um, with Usha.

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Um, I hope it isn't the case with Usha um,

but when you think about the pursuit of

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power, In the United States, and what it

looks like, um, when you see so much power

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residing and white men still in 2024, even

though people panic about, oh, they're

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not going to school in the same numbers.

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They're not getting the CEO jobs

in the same numbers, although they

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still hold, like, 90 percent of them.

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They're not getting, you

know, it's like, oh, so it's

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supposed to 100 percent in 2024.

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Right.

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Um, You know, oh, whoa, is the,

uh, and what about these poor white

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men, which are important, right?

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We need to think about poor white people.

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They are the majority of the

impoverished in this country,

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which nobody wants to talk about.

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Um, they use most of the serVices

that are going to be cut off.

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Um, if the GOP or when the GOP

is back in the white house, uh,

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they actually make use of those

serVices, uh, including disability.

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Uh, and it definitely, um, when

we talk about, uh, food stamps and

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things of that nature, the majority

of people who get those, uh, kinds

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of serVices are white Americans.

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Um, and so when you make your

most vulnerable and visible,

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you know, that's when you get

books like the Hillbilly Elegy.

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From J.

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D.

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Vance, who tries to elevate the struggle

of these folks and their thoughts and

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their culture so that we can better

understand this population of America.

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But it's also interesting

that while doing so.

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You will also be pursuing power by

partnering with someone who is part of

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literally the upper echelon, the 1%.

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Um, and has been for generations,

um, in order to do so.

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Right?

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So what does it mean?

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Um, when we think about whiteness

and these are questions you should

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ask yourself, what does it look like?

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Um, why are people so ready and willing

to scapegoat particular populations,

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whether it's black Americans in this

country, whether it's immigrants in

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this country, uh, while partnering,

like, building lives with, having

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children with, creating multiple

generations with those very same people.

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Um, so these are the questions

that you want to ask, um, and you

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also want to ask those folks who

are the children of immigrants.

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What is it about this pursuit of power?

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Um, or this proximity to whiteness that

allows you potentially, um, because

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I don't think that anybody's a dupe.

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I think this people make decisions.

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Um, but that allows you to.

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Partner with someone or to partner

with people and be in those kinds of

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communities that are anti you, who

you are, where you came from your

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lived experiences the experiences of

many people who have made significant

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contributions to this country and

continue to do so including our

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You know, uh, Vance's, uh, wife.

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Yeah, she's, she's pretty

dynamic and interesting.

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Um, so I just wanted to give you that for

a need to know, um, what you need to know.

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Anti black racism is pervasive.

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It's all over the world is not just

happening here in the United States.

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Be what you need to know is.

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You know, one of the drivers for

why people want to, um, get rid of

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Joe Biden is because there is a real

possibility that if he is elected, that

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Kamala Harris will become president.

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Um, and she is an immigrant.

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She's a children of immigrants.

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Um, she is Jamaican, black.

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Uh, she is Indian, right?

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East Indian, um, Asian.

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So, um, that's a real possibility

that you need to think about, right?

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What is this big push to get Biden out

and to replace him and her, which we

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talked about a little bit in last week's

episode, if you want to revisit that.

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Um, something else you need to know

is that, um, JD Vance, um, and the

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GOP, they talk a very specific game

about immigration, but then they marry

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these dynamic immigrant women, um,

you know, like his current wife, Usha.

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Um, which I hope I'm pronouncing her

name correctly, if I'm not, I'm sorry.

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Um, so I want you to know that too, as

they push this anti, uh, immigration,

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anti affirmative action, anti all these

anti DEI, you know, uh, SHRM just got

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rid of equity in, in, um, their policies.

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Um, but while they're pushing these

initiatives, they're also partnered with

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people who benefit from these initiatives.

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Um, so these are things

that you need to know.

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So when we are talking about.

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These issues.

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We're not only talking about black people.

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We're not only talking

about black Americans.

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Um, and so you need to know that too.

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So thank you for tuning in

to need to know with Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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I will see you next week on the

Black Executive Perspective Podcast

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and tune in to all of our podcasts,

not just me, Tony Franklin's

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amazing and all the other folks.

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Um, but learn something, um,

think about things critically.

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and stay engaged.

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I'll see you next week.

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BEP Narrator: A black

executive perspective.