Asian American Voters Factor in Georgia Elections
By C. Naseer Ahmad
Georgia is one of the battle-ground states in recent US elections in view of the narrow margins between the votes cast in the presidential as well as the two senatorial races. As a consequence, Georgia has been in the news lately.
Game show hosts like “Wait, Wait don’t tell me” on the National Public Radio (NPR) or Jeopardy on television can ask questions from the contestants to name the fruit for which the state is famous. Other questions could be to name the singers for the songs such as “Midnight train to Georgia,” “Georgia on my mind” or “Rainy Night in Georgia,” for example.
The quiz show hosts might as well add another question: what do London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, Hadia Tajik, former Minister of Culture of Norway and Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, Director, Asian American Advocacy Fund (AAAF) in Georgia have in common? The correct answer would be that all of them have immigrant roots from Pakistan and they are all contributing to serving their societies in different ways. They represent the stories of immigrants or children of immigrants and are in their own individual way harbingers of the future in the countries they live in. A common thread in their stories is the drive to success against all odds. “It can’t be done” is not in their vocabulary.
Papers like the Financial Times of London, across the world have been writing series of articles on the drama unfolding in the US state of Georgia. The paper quoted Raphael Warnock, US Senate candidate in Georgia who asked voters: “Clayton County, do you know how powerful you are?” He went on to say: “You were the county that pushed us over the finish line and flipped Georgia blue.”
Analysts are finding that the neighboring Cobb County, once a bastion of power for former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich, had also begun trending against his own Republican party. When the analysts dug deeper, they found that a new political force – the Asian American Voters - is emerging in states like Georgia. A New York Times report states that “Asian-American population in the state has doubled in two decades, and many live in the Atlanta suburbs, which voted for Joseph R. Biden Jr. by large margins.” Washington Post reported that record Asian American turnout helped Biden win Georgia. NPR reported that “By some counts, AAPI voters nearly doubled compared to 2016, and Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood of the Asian American Advocacy Fund says that's no fluke.“
Joe Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes. By some estimates there are about twelve to thirteen thousand voters of Pakistani origin in Georgia. So, the Asian American voters among whom are those of Pakistani origin did make the difference in the 2020 elections.
AAAF is one of the vanguards of the new political forces emerging in the US. It is a small, focused and disciplined organization which helps turn out voters for progressive candidates and causes. AAAF applies a criteria that is clear and includes demonstration of a track record of advocating for communities of color, defined on its website.
Imaginative leadership, a majority of whom are educated women, is the strength of organizations like AAAF. With skills honed over a series of elections in past years, AAAF is galvanizing the voters to make their voices heard.
Why are these young leaders, especially women, so successful? Could it be their education or is it because they don’t fit the immigrant stereotypes and be submissive? What are their motivations? Peek into the profiles of some of the eleven AAAF leaders and you will find the clues. For instance, AAAF Director Mahmood’s experiences “strengthened her desire for justice for all marginalized people, including Muslims, immigrants, and refugees.” Similarly, AAAF Gwinnett County Campaign Organizer Hiba Rizvi “strives for a fair and progressive future for all Georgians.” AAAF Angelina (Thuy Hang Tran) is “passionate about convening politics, law, and education to further human rights and sustainability.” She wants to “cross-pollinate her experiences to assist marginalized communities in pockets around the globe.”
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the single step,” said the Chinese philosopher Laozi. That is perhaps how Sadiq Khan became London’s Mayor. Similar must have been Hadia Tajik’s odyssey who at 29 “became the youngest minister ever to serve in the Norwegian government, as well as the first Muslim and Asian member of Norwegian cabinet.”
Clearly, demographics are changing societies around the world and something is working for groups like AAAF in Georgia. Their efforts may or may not pay off as handsomely during the January 5th, 2021 runoff elections. It will be difficult, however, to deny what they have been able to achieve so far. There are, of course, some who attribute their success to a conspiracy led by a dead man – Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Denial is often the inability to accept reality. However, those who are taking their jobs seriously and putting in an honest day’s work accept the results for what they are. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who has been the recipient of much of the loser’s ire said it in an email that the incumbent president’s loss was simply the result of “changing demographics”, which has made the state more politically diverse and competitive.
A Financial Times, December 16, 2020, Supplement “The World Ahead” contains demographic related charts with the heading “The shape of the age to come” showing that Gen Z (those born during 1997-2012) will play a pivotal role across in the years ahead. So, what happened in Georgia has already happened in places like London and in Norway.
About a century ago, the shepherd’s pie was perhaps one of the most popular dishes in UK. Today, the humble chicken tikka masala is considered UK’s national dish. Guess why? Demographics.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, in December 1770, during the “Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials,” John Adams, who later served as the 2nd US President, said: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” So, if facts are stubborn things, then the demographic facts certainly seem to be their first cousins.
The song Rainy Night in Georgia,” made popular by Brook Benton, might point that this phenomenon is not in Georgia alone.
Baby, it's a rainy night in Georgia
I feel it's rainin' all over the world
Could it be that demographics facts are “rainin' all over the world?”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
