Thomas Jefferson High School uproar, when meritocracy became a mobilizing identity

In 2020, Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia, a magnet school where over 70 per cent of students were Asian American, eliminated its entrance test in an effort to increase Black and Hispanic student enrollment. The elimination of the entrance exam disproportionately affected Asian-American students. To oppose this move, Indian-American parents formed the Coalition for TJ, organized town halls and protests to dissent against the change which they said made the admissions process race-conscious.

[Harnessing meritocracy, a mobilizing identity for Indian Americans]

Two Indian-Americans, Suparna Dutta and Asra Nomani, became national figures through their participation in the fight against removal of standardized exams and their harnessing of a broader “pro-meritocracy” movement to win their case. 

They mobilized support in the Indian diaspora through WhatsApp groups, temple networks, and language-specific outreach in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu to build a political base in Northern Virginia and beyond. By framing the larger conversation around meritocracy instead of equity, they were able to strike a chord with the diaspora.

[From local controversy to statewide political influence]

Three counties in the area (Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William) have an AAPI population share of more than 10%, with Indian presence steadily increasing in nearby towns like Manassas and McLean. The 12 towns in these counties with high Indian populations are political hotspots with high participation rates in school board elections, local referenda, and state assembly elections.

Hence, the pro-meritocracy movement turned many Indian-Americans into single-issue voters, changing the landscape in the local school board elections and even state-level elections in Virginia.

(Picture from Loudon Parents Matter Rally, Nov, 2021 source: Reuters)

Indian-Americans fielded and backed candidates for school board and delegate races who opposed the test removal and formed PACs and local political coalitions to oppose incumbents who backed the change. As a result of the intense organizing and financial support funneled to anti-test removal candidates, the TJ test removal became a key issue in even the gubernatorial elections in Virginia in 2021.

Glenn Youngkin used issues like critical race theory and meritocracy to appeal to Indian-American and Asian-American voters in Virginia swing suburbs. He won his election by less than 64,000 votes, which may have been impossible without the votes of the 120,000 registered Indian-American voters in the state.

[Identity to Political Capital]

The mobilization went beyond polls. Indian-Americans utilized local religious and cultural events to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the legal battle against the test change and to support political candidates who opposed it. 

Through these fundraising events and by targeting the Indian diaspora nationwide through online campaigns, the community was able to raise nationwide attention around the issue. The spillover effect resulted in significant fundraising increases for organizations like the Hindu-American Foundation and American Hindu Coalition, groups promoting diaspora and Hindu interests which were not directly linked to the Coalition for TJ.

For the first time, Indian-Americans became a civic force in Northern Virginia, reshaping elections, policy debates, and the flow of political funding. Their ability to successfully turn a specific local issue into a statewide political litmus test and subsequently a nationwide issue concerning questions of meritocracy and reverse discrimination, proved that when issues align with identity and values, the diaspora is not just engaged, it is powerful.