Who were Boston Brahmins? Navarro's remark revives debate on elite class

White House aide Peter Navarro's jibe on 'Brahmins' while defending US tariffs on India has triggered debate, raising questions over what he meant by the term

White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro’s comment on “Brahmins” has sparked controversy, with political leaders offering different interpretations and linking it to the ‘Boston Brahmins’—the old elite of Boston known for their exclusivity and cultural influence.

 

While defending the US decision to raise tariffs on Indian imports to 50 per cent, Navarro had said: “You’ve got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.”

 

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the usage of the word 'Brahmin' by someone senior in the US administration “cannot come out of the blue” in India’s context. In an X post on Monday, she said: “The usage of the word Brahmin (yes, elite Boston Brahmins US context am aware) by someone senior in the US Administration cannot come out of the blue in India’s context; this was deliberate. So please sit out on explaining this one.”

 

However, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose and Congress MP Karti Chidambaram indicated that Navarro’s jibe referred to the ‘Boston Brahmins’.

 

Taking to X, Ghose wrote: “Boston Brahmin was once a widely used term in the US to refer to the American New England wealthy elite. Brahmin is still a term used in the English-speaking world to denote social or economic elites (in this case, the rich). The illiteracy on X is astonishing.” 

 

Chidambaram echoed the point, saying ‘Boston Brahmins’ is commonly used to describe social elites.

 

But who were Boston Brahmins, and how did this term originate? Is there an Indian connection to it?

Origin of Boston Brahmins

The term was coined in 1861 by Boston physician and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes to describe the city’s old, wealthy elite. Many of these families were descended from Puritan settlers and built fortunes in shipping, the China trade, and manufacturing during the 18th and 19th centuries, later emerging as civic and cultural leaders.

Who were Boston Brahmins?

Boston Brahmins were descendants of early English colonists and Puritan founders in Massachusetts. Prominent families included the Adams, Cabot, Eliot, Emerson, Holmes, Lawrence, Lowell, Peabody, Quincy, and Winthrop families.

 

They were characterised—sometimes satirised—by traditions such as:

• Graduating from Harvard
• Intermarrying within their circle
• Living on Beacon Hill
• Practising thrift and avoiding ostentatious wealth
• Following a Brahmin dress code and dialect
• Dining at two, taking tea at six, and hosting four receptions annually
• Escaping summers on the North Shore
• Sending sons to Harvard and burying their dead at Mt Auburn Cemetery

Cultural role in America

From the mid-19th to mid-20th century, Boston Brahmins dominated the city’s institutions, including Harvard University, Boston Latin School, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Athenaeum.

 

They were seen as an American aristocracy. Unlike New York or Chicago, where immigrants gained influence, Boston’s elite resisted newcomers and were known for exclusivity. They opposed sharing power with Black Americans and particularly resented the Irish immigrants who arrived during the 1840s famine. In 1894, young Brahmins founded the Immigration Restriction League to formalise such exclusivity.

Is there an Indian connection?

The term 'Brahmin' was borrowed from India’s caste system, where Brahmins are the top priestly caste, often associated with scholarship and ritual authority. The analogy was drawn because Boston Brahmins, like their Indian namesake, were seen as socially dominant, intellectual, and insulated, with inherited privilege and closed circles.