ATLANTA (AP) – For Asian Americans, 2020 was a year of political success and newfound influence. But it was also a time of vulnerability to racist attacks.
This painful dichotomy will be on display on Friday, when President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the first descendant of South Asia to hold a national office, visit Atlanta a few days after a white sniper killed eight people, most of them Asian American women, at three massage companies in the metropolitan area. The deaths occur after a spike in anti-Asian violence nationally.
The presidential trip was planned before the shooting, as part of a victory lap aimed at selling the benefits of pandemic relief legislation.. But Biden and Harris will spend the visit comforting a community whose growing voting power has helped ensure their victory in Georgia. and beyond.
As the fastest growing racial demographic in the United States, the political influence of Asian Americans was felt across the country. In California, two Korean-American Republican women made history with his victories in Congress. The Caucus Asian-Pacific-American Congress, typically dominated by Democrats, has its longest list ever, including members from Asian America and the Pacific Islands and others who represent a significant number of Asian Americans.
“We are becoming increasingly visible and active in the political ecosystem,” said state senator Michelle Au of Georgia, a Democrat who represents part of the growing and diverse suburbs to the north of the city. Still, Au said, “What I heard personally, and what I felt, is that sometimes people don’t tend to hear us.”
Au said the White House spotlight, especially in the midst of a tragedy, is welcomed by a community whose influence – and struggles – are often overshadowed in national conversations about diversity. She notes that President Donald Trump and other Republicans simply rejected the accusations of racism when they dubbed the coronavirus the “virus of China” because of its origins.
Activists say they have seen an increase in racist attacks. Almost 3,800 incidents have been reported for Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting center for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and its partner advocacy groups, since March 2020.
In his first prime-time speech to the nation as president, Biden last Thursday – five days before the Atlanta murders – called the attacks on Americans of Asian origin “non-Americans”.
“Having them talk about it that way, so publicly, and saying AAPI, or noticing that our communities are going through difficult times, is huge,” said Au.
The White House said Biden and Harris will meet on Friday with Asian American state lawmakers and other community leaders on racist rhetoric and actions against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands. Biden will also visit the main campus of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The political event originally planned to promote the $ 1.9 trillion relief bill for COVID-19 has been dropped. The White House has confirmed that the president will also meet with Georgia’s voting rights defender, Stacey Abrams, The likely Democratic candidate for governor in 2022, with Republicans in the state legislature pushing several proposals to hinder voting in the state.
The number of black and Latino voters far exceeds the number of Asian American voters at the national level and in Georgia, but the Asian American and Pacific Island population is growing at a faster rate. Of Georgia’s more than 7.3 million registered voters, more than 300,000 identify themselves as Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, according to data from the Asian American Advocacy Fund.
The coordinated campaign of the Democrats in Georgia in 2020 – the joint effort of the Biden campaign and the state Democrats – directed a participation effort specifically for Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands. The Advocacy Fund’s analysis found that more than 185,000 voted in 2020, an increase of 63% over the previous four years. Biden ended up winning the state by less than 13,000 votes out of almost 5 million votes. Democrats also forced two second rounds in the Senate, which ended up winning, giving the party control of the chamber.
Now, Democratic Party of Georgia officials have started offering their Asian-American outreach program as a model for other state parties.
“We are certainly not underestimating the community,” said Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux.
The freshman congresswoman lost in Atlanta’s 7th District suburb by less than 1,000 votes in 2018. In November, she won by 10,000 votes, overturning what was once a Republican stronghold. She said her campaign data shows that the share of Asian American voters increased from 7% in 2016 to 11% in 2020 – enough for her to consider the community decisive in her political fortunes.
This influence does not only benefit Democrats. In California, where the Asian American and Pacific Island community has long been a political force, the newcomers Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steele, both Republicans, became the first Korean-American women elected to Congress, giving the Republican Party two great incentives.
Asian Americans are particularly important because Democrats are targeting suburban voters across the Sun Belt, including the growing communities around Charlotte, Houston and Phoenix, said Guy Cecil, head of the US Democratic Priorities Super PAC.
For example, Priority analysis of the November election results revealed that Asian Americans increased their participation in Georgia’s suburb votes by 2.5 percentage points compared to 2016. They also represented a notable share of new voters in Arizona and Wisconsin – places where new voters favored Biden and helped boost his victories, the group concluded.
“We need to mobilize these same people in 2022. This will be critical for Democrats to retain our majorities (in Congress) and win the governor’s race,” said Cecil.
Au, the senator from the state of Georgia, and Bourdeaux said that it is also important that elected officials and others understand the breadth of the Asian American community and the Pacific Islands and do not treat it simply as a bloc to be chosen to vote.
Although the Asian population of the Atlanta area is predominantly suburban, attracted in part by high-performing public schools, Au said politicians must recognize their diversity and economic challenges. “I understand, I’m a doctor too,” she said. “So everyone is like all Asians are doctors and lawyers and they are doing great … but it eclipses a large part of the AAPI population.”
Bourdeaux praised a “diverse community that is South Asian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, a number of different religions, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist, non-religious and so on, just an extraordinarily diverse group of people”.
But that same diversity means that some Americans see these differences as a threat.
“We have faced systemic racism, exclusion and violence before,” said state deputy Sam Park of Georgia on Thursday, alongside his Asian American and Pacific Islander legislative colleagues. “Despite everything, we thrive.”
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Lemire reported from Washington.