Georgia on the Diaspora's Mind

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One Caribbean Nation.

By William Skinner

Staci Abrams

Kamala Harris

Map of Dekalb County Georgia

Georgia has often been considered by those in the Diaspora, as a cultural backwater, never to be compared with the mighty New York or the less mighty Ontario. For those Caribbean residents, who have made Georgia their home, the USA Elections of 2020 and the recently concluded senatorial run offs, have given impetus to burying this myth about Georgia, mostly referred to as Atlanta, its capital city.

Caribbean Georgians obviously celebrated the victories because they have always favored the Democratic Party. The immigration policies of the Republican Party, and its apparent embrace of racist elements, have certainly not endeared them to  those in the Diaspora.

 When President Trump declared that some immigrants were from “shit hole” countries, it was considered an offensive and unwarranted assault and insult on all immigrants.

While it cannot be denied that the Caribbean/Jamaican roots of Vice President Kamala Harris brought tremendous excitement, it has been determined within the Caribbean Georgian community, that Staci Abrams, is their hero because she has been given credit for her great mobilizing efforts.

Those who listened to the electoral battle for Georgia, would now be more familiar with Dekalb County, where most Caribbean people settle, particularly in the City of Stone Mountain. Staci Abrahams is now “Staci” not only to Caribbean Georgians but also in households throughout the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Diasporic community in Georgia, is now poised to be a serious political force, and hopefully this extremely visible involvement in the Democratic Party’s victories, will bring the needed socio-economic benefits that are won through victorious political combat.

The New Yorkers who have settled in Georgia, could very well claim that they brought the political energy from the north to the south. It is a claim that is on very solid ground.

 

William Skinner is a social commentator and Director of the Mahogany Coconut Group


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