100 percent

One of the major discussions for the past couple of days on a south asian journalists list serv, whose name I will not mention here, was a sentence in the preliminary coverage of Sanjay Gupta's possible appointment as Surgeon General:

"The Michigan-born son of Indian and Pakistani parents, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy." - WP

It seems that many members on the list serv were concerned with Gupta's origins. One member spoke to Gupta's mother and received confirmation that he is "100 percent Indian, no Pakistani." Thank God! Imagine if this "common but unfortunate error", as one member put it, were actually true!

Ethnic, religious and national origins matter in this country. And the immigrant success story relies on not being tied to origins that are questionable. 100 percent Indian indeed!