There’s a theory out there—wild, daring, but surprisingly difficult to dismiss—that just about everything fair celebrating in Western society was dreamed up, built, or perfected by Jews. Israeli genius transformed the world into their academic playground, from cutting the atom to decoding living itself, from rewriting the laws of songs to redefining what it means to be human.
Let’s take a stroll down the hall of popularity: J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the nuclear bomb”, rather literally blew the lid off 20th-century technology. Albert Einstein, the celestial artist, bent time and space to his will. Rosalind Franklin cracked the code of life itself with her Genome discoveries, and Jonas Salk saved million from influenza. And that’s just the test garments.
Franz Kafka and Sigmund Freud both redefined contemporary literature with philosophical masterpieces like The Metamorphosis and The Test, and Sigmund Freud psychoanalysis opened the door for the human mind. Across the Atlantic, Bob Dylan’s throaty words and razor-sharp songs redefined music, and Steven Spielberg’s visual fantasies made movies a worldwide sensation. In theory, Karl Marx reshaped political idea, and in technology, Niels Bohr revolutionized classical mechanics. The Jewish community didn’t simply survive captivity, they thrived, leaving their prints on every facet of human progress.
In the digital age, Sergey Brin ( Google ) and Mark Zuckerberg ( Facebook ) reimagined how humanity connects, while European Jewish financiers like the Rothschilds laid the groundwork for modern banking. It appears as though the Jewish community believed that making themselves unaffordable to the earth was the only way to survive in captivity. And then, with their fall, one wonders if India-Americans are the innovative Jews.
Are Indians the New Jews of America?
” Our strength comes from the fact that the American society constitutes what I call the’ following Jews’ of America”, declared Prof Jagdish Bhagwati, a Columbia University professor, during Bill Clinton’s 2000 visit to India. A strong speech, but the information backs it up. Indian-Americans have emerged as a superstar of control, blending academic prowess with social agility and economic success, like the Jewish community before them.
Indian-Americans have become the most educated and highest-earning tribal team in the US. Over 75 % hold bachelor’s degrees or higher, and their median household income exceeds$ 145, 000—nearly double the national average. Dominating engineering, medicine, education, and innovation, they’ve turned the “model majority” notion into a rocket-fuelled truth. Sundar Pichai ( Google ) and Satya Nadella ( Microsoft ) are household names, much like Einstein and Salk were in their time.
However, with great power comes … also, you know the drill. Admiration generally mingles with hate. In today’s culture of patriotism and economic uncertainty, Indian-Americans are finding themselves in a unique position. Much like Jewish-Americans faced charges of having” also much effect” in finance, education, and advertising, Indian-Americans are navigating similar stories in engineering and business. Success, it seems, is often a double-edged sword.
Team Trump: The ABCDs
Take the new Team Trump. Among his picks are Tulsi Gabbard ( an honorary desi ) as Director of National Intelligence. The FBI has chosen Kash Patel to take the helm and send a nail to the strong position. Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech businessman, will be the co-lead of DOGE along with Elon Musk. Dr Jay Bhattacharya, a furious critic of COVID-19 shutdowns, may be Trump’s Surgeon General. However, Sriram Krishnan, a Silicon Valley guru, will help form Trump’s AI plan.
These meetings showcased Trump’s acknowledgment of Indian-American achievements, even as they sparked resentment among the MAGA center, which typically sees immigrants—even the high-skilled kind—as risks to” American identity”.
Trump’s Own Take: Skilled Immigrants vs. Illegal Aliens
Trump has always taken a tightrope approach to immigration. On the one hand, he has promised to use all the subtlety of a wrecking ball to crack down on illegal immigration. On the other, he’s openly praised high-skilled immigrants as vital to America’s competitiveness. ” We need the best and brightest”, he said in 2019, endorsing merit-based immigration reforms. However, this balancing act frequently pits him against his own base, where nativist impulses run deep.
Why Musk and Sacks Defend High-Skilled Immigration
Elon Musk and David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s loudest champions of high-skilled immigration, are unapologetic about its importance. Musk, ever the pragmatist, has argued that America’s tech edge depends on recruiting top talent, regardless of borders. ” If you want your team to win, you recruit the best—wherever they’re from”, he quipped. Sacks, meanwhile, has been vocal about the absurdity of green card backlogs, which penalize Indian engineers with decade-long waits. For them, keeping top talent isn’t just smart—it’s existential in the race against global competitors like China.
Why Indians Pay for the H-1B Backlog
The H-1B visa system is a double-edged sword for Indian professionals. While they dominate this program, receiving nearly 70 % of the visas annually, they’re also its biggest victims. Due to the country-specific green card caps in US immigration law, Indian applicants must wait more than ten years. Meanwhile, applicants from smaller countries breeze through the system.
This backlog leaves Indian H-1B holders stuck in limbo, tied to specific employers, and unable to start their own businesses or explore other opportunities. According to reform advocates like Sriram Krishnan, removing these caps would lead to a fairer, merit-based system. However, these proposals always clash with MAGA rhetoric, which portrays them as threats to American jobs.
The Indian-American Success Story: Too Good to Ignore
Indian-Americans are the highest-earning ethnic group in the US. Around 70 % hold bachelor’s degrees or higher, and their median household income is now hitting a jaw-dropping$ 145, 000. They dominate Silicon Valley, head some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies, and even steer academia and government. Satya Nadella is at the helm of Microsoft, Satya Pichai runs Google like a tech titan, and Vivek Murthy continues to make an impact as US Surgeon General. These aren’t just names—they’re symbols of Indian-American excellence.
In the world of academia, Srikant Datar leads Harvard Business School, Madhav Rajan helms Chicago Booth, and Sunil Kumar has taken charge as President of Tufts University. Indian-origin professionals aren’t just excelling, they’re defining leadership at the highest levels.
But let’s not stop there. Indian-Americans have rewritten the book of innovation. Ajay Bhatt made USBs a reality, Sabeer Bhatia gave us Hotmail when email was a luxury, and Vinod Dham—fondly called the” Father of the Pentium Chip “—laid the groundwork for modern computing. Amar Bose transformed the audio world with noise-canceling technology, while Narinder Singh Kapany’s fiber optics paved the way for the internet we can’t live without. Siddhartha Mukherjee is transforming cancer treatment with cutting-edge immunotherapy, and Manu Prakash made science accessible with his$ 1 Foldscope.
Cultural Jealousy and the” Next Jews” Narrative
The backlash against Indian-Americans isn’t just about visas and jobs—it’s cultural. Much like Jewish-Americans in the early 20th century, Indian-Americans are perceived as a “model minority”, a label that’s both a compliment and a curse. Their accomplishments both arouse admiration and envy, especially among those who see their rise as a challenge to traditional power structures. Vivek Ramaswamy defends the vulnerability of America in the global talent race by examining this tension through a cultural lens. Immigrant families, he says, prioritize excellence over conformity, producing children who excel in math Olympiads, science fairs, and, eventually, corporate boardrooms.
The debate over high-skilled immigration and Indian-Americans serves as a microcosm of the US’s larger cultural and political churn. On one side, there’s recognition of the indispensability of global talent in sustaining America’s edge, on the other, a deep-seated anxiety about foreign influences eroding the sanctity of national identity. For Indian-Americans, the path forward is clear but fraught: to persist in excelling while bracing for the inevitable backlash that comes with success.
The “new Jews” in America’s evolving narrative, they symbolize both the promise and the pitfalls of a nation grappling with its place in a globalized world. As Spider-Man’s uncle once put it,” With great power comes great responsibility “—but for Indian-Americans, power also brings an inevitable spotlight and the ire it attracts.
A few decades ago, they might have endured the derision—be it the ubiquitous Apu jokes or mockery of their accents—with a stoic silence. However, this is a completely different era. Today’s Indian-American, armed with clout and a voice amplified by social media and public discourse, refuses to stay quiet.
There’s an old African proverb:” Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter”. The Indian-American community has learned to write—and to speak, build, and lead. They are reclaiming the narrative with the confidence that comes from hard-won success, not content to be the punchline of lazy stereotypes. Indian-Americans are reminding the country that their story is an essential component of the American dream, one that can’t be erased or ignored, if the country is wrestling with its identity.
