There is no doubt that Donald Trump changed the political landscape. One of the most polarizing figures of our time used the rhetoric of hate and fear and coupled it with far-fetched promises to propel him all the way into the White House.
The election emboldened voters who felt that Washington had forgotten about them, but as we saw with the Women’s March, the election also lit a fire in communities concerned about their future in this administration.
The 6th Congressional race in Georgia is seen as a test for the country, or as beltway pundits like to say, a referendum on the President’s agenda. No one knows really how the race will turn out, but we are seeing first hand that hateful rhetoric against immigrants could potentially change the political landscape in the 6th Congressional district as well as the rest of Metro Atlanta. For years we have heard that demographic changes will make Georgia more competitive on the state and national level, yet that just remains optimistic talk from Democrats, rather than results at the ballot box.
On Saturday April 1st, a group of concerned second generation South Asian Americans gathered in a room at East Roswell Park to discuss options on how to get involved, all driven by rhetoric and actions of the President since inauguration.
The 6th Congressional District has seen a huge influx of wealthy Asian Americans moving into the district for safe neighborhoods and top-tier schools. South Asians now represent about 7 percent of the district, although nationwide they represent approximately 1 percen of the population. The group that gathered at East Roswell Park were the children of immigrants. Their parents came to the U.S. in the 60’s, 70’s as doctors, engineers, and small business owners. These immigrant kids grew up, over-achieved, and are now well-to-do doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and management consultants - they are anything but activists. But the landscape is changing.
The effort to gather the group was led by two graduates of Georgia Tech and another from the University of Georgia. The two Tech grads, who own their own businesses and work as professionals in corporate America, don’t fit the typical profile of political activists. They were driven to act as they were concerned about what they saw and heard. Their friends that came to the event have rarely voted or even donated to political candidates or causes - it was not a priority for their parents who came here to make a life in a new land. Even with the elections of Governors Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley, politics was an afterthought and their elections did not bring a wave of increased engagement from the community.
Yet, the meeting was lively with individuals talking about how they are more worried now for their safety and the safety of their family than right after 9/11. This fear is driven by five shooting and the deaths of two members of the South Asian community within a month after the President’s inauguration. The most notable of which was the bar shooting of two Indian Garmin engineers in Olathe, Kansas. There are also young parents that expressed to the group’s social media page that their school kids are getting racist taunts that were not present before the Trump candidacy.
We may be witnessing a perfect storm and a political awakening of community. South Asian professionals, who were not engaged, are now paying attention and asking questions on how to get involved. If Jon Ossoff wins the special election outright or in a run-off, pundits will have to examine why a wealthy community that, on paper, would find the Republican message of lower taxes and a business friendly environment more appealing, would organize and turnout in such force to send a message to the President? The answer is simple: the unintended consequence of the President’s message that brought him to power also led to new, previously disengaged communities to become activists. The change might start with the special election and may continue with a candidate of South Asian descent running for office in Georgia.
For a kid who grew up in Stone Mountain, who became politically engaged after 9/11, and was inspired by and worked for President Obama, I’m hoping the social media chatter, the energy from the meeting in Roswell, and the engagement with our friends we grew up with will lead to meaningful change. We will find out April 18th.
- Harin J. Contractor grew up in Stone Mountain, GA and is a graduate of Parkview High School & the University of Georgia. He was an Economic Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Labor in the Obama Administration.