Hollywood actor Kal Penn fits the profile of Indian Americans campaigning for Barack Obama. He is born American, well educated, successful, and most importantly young.

Like him the children of many immigrants who went to America in the 60s and 70s, have grown up making an extra effort to fit in, simply because of the colour of their skin.

And Obama's bid for the White House echoes their childhood struggles.

"In the generation that's growing up here, because they perceive themselves as people of color there is less hesitation in crossing racial lines and saying they will vote for any American," said Prof Madhulika Khandelwal, author, 'Becoming American, Being Indian'/ Director, Asian American Institute, Queens College, Cuny.

Barack Obama's campaign has rallied many young second generation Indian Americans over to its side. The idea of putting a person of colour in the White House is a heady one for most of them.

But people working in the community say that even though 60 per cent of Indian Americans are registered Democrat, this time a generational divide could split the vote as older immigrants especially from lower and middle income groups are uncomfortable putting a black man in the White House.

The discomfort is unspoken. Instead many point to Obama's inexperience and Hillary's defeat in the primaries as a reason to perhaps not vote for Obama.

"I wanted to vote for Hillary but now it is Obama. Don't know how he is going to be," said Gyan Sahni, owner Jackson Diner.

Professor Khandelwal who's spent years researching Indian Americans says the race factor in the US elections is compounded by a confusion over the community's own racial identity.

Even today the US census that categorizes people by race and ethnicity, doesn't have a separate category for south Asians, let alone Indians, who instead are classified along with east Asians as simply Asian.

"When we come to this country we really don't know who are the different kinds of Americans here, what kind of history we have about race in the US and a lot of people who come here are not very clear about their own identity" Prof Madhulika Khandelwal, Author Becoming American, Being Indian/ Director, Asian American Institute, Queens College, Cuny.

Many say if it weren't for the state of the economy, race would be the single biggest factor in the US elections even for many of the 2.5 million Indian Americans.

"No question that if it weren't for economy race would be the single largest factor, I think race is still a factor because prejudice runs deep. But if there is an election where race should be set aside I think this is the election we are going to see that happen," said Sangeeta Rao, Associate Director, Center for Community Outreach, Pace University.

Now with economics having taken centrestage, those who've spent years fighting prejudice among immigrant communities have some hope after all.