LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it's important to acknowledge that the term "Asian American" is not a monolith; it's nuanced and encompasses a diverse group of people from dozens of vastly different nations.
South Asians fall under that umbrella, though many in the Las Vegas valley feel they've been historically overlooked, underserved and underrepresented. Folks in the community say that is changing now, though. As the Vegas valley's South Asian population grows, so has representation and resources.
Paresh Joshi, the president of the Hindu and Jain Temple of Las Vegas, has gotten a front-row seat to the community's growth. The Summerlin temple has been there for more than two decades, but it's just in the last few years that he's seen attendance really take off.
"Roughly, we see the Indian community kind of double in the last two, three years," Joshi said.
South Asians — which include not just people from India, but also Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other surrounding countries — have flocked to Southern Nevada in recent years.
Radhika Kunnel is among those who have made the move to Las Vegas relatively recently. She says the social outlets are there for the South Asian community, but services are lacking.
"The issues such as housing insecurity, food insecurity, even simple things as community support, even inward community support was not as apparent and obvious," Kunnel said.
That's why she co-founded a nonprofit called the South Asian Women's Alliance of Nevada, or SWAN. At the core of SWAN's mission is a drive to dismantle the "model minority myth" that portrays all South Asians — and Asians, for that matter — as affluent people who don't need help. At its first food distribution this spring, SWAN proved that stereotype wrong, giving out boxes of South Asian pantry staples to South Asian families in need.
"We started with a goal of 25, but then we ended up with 100 signups, which was very overwhelming in some places, heartwarming, and also it gave us a reality check, that the impressions we have are not the same as what we believe. It definitely tells us, yes, there's a need," Kunnel said.
Given the success of that distribution, Kunnel said SWAN plans to do more, with the hopes of doing it routinely.
SWAN's membership has grown quite a bit since its founding in 2021.
"It has grown from three of us who were the founding members, to now we have a membership of over 200, 250," Kunnel said.
As the organization grows in size and creates more connections in the community, Kunnel hopes to expand its services. A big focus for her is establishing a domestic violence support network for South Asian people.
Culturally competent resources are just one part of SWAN's mission, though. The organization also strives for more South Asian civic engagement — both within the context of the AAPI community, as well as Southern Nevada as a whole.
"Traditionally, South Asians were not a part of these AAPI conversations, at least up until recently. That was one of the important reasons for me to run for office in 2020," Kunnel said.
Kunnel ran for an Assembly District 2 seat in 2020.
"When I won the primary, I was told that I was the first South Asian to win the primaries, which was incredulous for me," she said.
Kunnel ultimately lost the race for the Assembly seat then. But she was inspired this year, when freshman Assemblyman Reuben D'Silva was sworn in. He's the first South Asian ever elected to the Nevada state legislature.
"Absolutely elated, just to see representation there. It means a lot. It means a lot not only to me personally, but for the community as well," Kunnel said about D'Silva taking office.
"We worked hard to get here, but we finally now have a seat at the table and a voice in the lawmaking process," Reuben D'Silva said.
He said it's an honor to now represent the east Las Vegas neighborhood that raised him. The journey to the table was not easy for the democrat representing Assembly District 28, though. He, in a lot of ways, is the living embodiment that South Asians do struggle.
"There were moments that were scary for us. I remember a time when my mom got a letter for deportation. We had to really fight to keep her here," D'Silva said. "I didn't grow up rich. I grew up very poor. We were on food stamps, we had social services that were benefiting our family. I know the struggles, and there's often an assumption that as a model minority, we're higher up in the socioeconomic scale, that we don't have the same problems at other groups. That's not the case."
From a marine, to a Clark County School District teacher, and now a legislator, the Bombay-born, Vegas-raised politician has many titles. South Asian is a designation he wears with immense pride, but it's a label many didn't even recognize when he moved here at 6 years old. He said he was often mistaken for other ethnicities.
"People used to ask if we were something else," D'Silva said. "People didn't know who we were as a community back then."
Now, he says, they know.
"I think we have really etched a place out now, where when you tell somebody you are Asian, they don't look at you with a quizzical look," D'Silva said.
D'Silva said now, unquestionably, is a great time to be a South Asian in the Vegas valley.
