Brookhaven, March 19, 2024 – Three minority caucuses chairperson representing Georgia's Blacks, Hispanic and Asian Americans Pacific Islanders Legislative Caucus held a historic first ever legislative town hall meeting to discuss collaboration and coalition building.
The three minority caucuses are represented by Rep. Carl Gilliard (HD-162) Chairman of Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, Senator Jason Esteves (SD-6) Chairman of Hispanic Caucus, and Rep. Michelle Au (HD-50) Chairlady of AAPI Caucus.
Rep. Sam Park (HD-107) moderated the Town Hall discussion at Latin American Association headquarters building on Buford Highway.
“The current Georgia State Legislature is not reflective of the current composition of Georgia's population today. A lot of that is due to redistricting that we have gone through. Over the past decade we saw a decline in the white population by 1%. A 15% increase of the black population and the Asians and Hispanic communities increasing by 2020 to over 30%. Our voice should have been reflected in the state government and state legislature and our congressional districts, but they were not,” said Rep. Sam Park (HD-) said in his opening remarks.
Rep. Park moderated the town hall by raising issues affecting Georgia's population ranging from voting rights, immigration, healthcare, gun safety, public education, school vouchers, public safety, etc.
“This is the time where people are looking for representation from all of the legislators. Enough of pointing fingers. And so instead of hearing our issues, we got to hear the issues of the people,” said Rep. Carl Gilliard (HD-162), Chairman of Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, largest Black caucus in the world.
“We need to get back to basics. ‘We The People' and everyone has the alienable right to register to vote. We got to motivate people to use the power to vote. We have an opportunity in Georgia, where we have the Tri-Caucus and the ‘Tri' numbers,” added Rep. Gilliard.
“For those who drafted the Voting Acts Right wanted a multiracial democracy to emerge. That's the opportunity that we have,” added Rep. Sam Park in moderating the panel discussion.
“While it doesn't necessarily have to be one on one [representation], it matters who's representing us at these tables and who is sitting at those tables of power. Our perspectives are unique to our experiences, whether we were born in Georgia, or born in other states, or some other country. The perspective that we bring to policy making is incredibly important,” said Senator Jason Esteves (SD-6)
“The Laken Riley murder on UGA campus has created a xenophobic rhetoric against Hispanic and immigrant communities. We have seen bills like HB-1105 turn into attempts to discriminate against immigrants but it impact whether you are Hispanic, Asian American, or Black African American. The bill impact all of us because the bill authorizes sheriffs, law enforcement to basically arrest people if they have doubts with someone's documentation. It primarily impacts people of color. These stereotype exist where immigrants only come from countries where people of color come from, which is obviously not the case,” said Senator Esteves.
“That's an unspeakable tragedy. And we all think about her family and hold them close as we reflect on the tragedy. The fact this crime should not be used as an excuse to broadly villainize a large group of people. And what I worry about when we see this sort of reactive legislation that was being pushed through, that is part of a right wing agenda in an election year, is that it actually create a less safe environment for all of us,” said Rep. Au.
“The advancement of this double edge policies where it necessitates local law enforcement to report people who are undocumented is what leads to and we have witness it in several other states, is that is leads to communities of color, people who are undocumented, being hesitant to engage with law enforcement even with their own safety is at risk,” explains Rep. Au.
Senator Au reflects back on the March 16 Atlanta Spa shooting where 8 victims were murdered and six of the victims were Asian women. The March 16 victims' families and anti-Asian hate crimes victims were reluctant to report their crimes with law enforcement in fear of recrimination. The fear of recrimination caused by lack of proper documentation and language barriers. Many victims expressed difficulties and fear in reporting hate crimes to law enforcement.
Another hot topic at the town hall centered on redistricting and the unintentional impact it caused on minority communities.
“Redistricting is a disservice to our communities. It points to a certain impression that our communities lack color. For example, if you are a Black person of color, then you're a Democrat. And then you're a person of color, you're a Democrat. We know that is not true. Black Republicans exist. Some are Asians, and some of them are Hispanics. It does a disservice to our community because we are so much more diverse and there is so much more that we can offer if we capture the true diversity of our respective communities,” said Senator Esteves.
The hour-long town hall ends with Q&A with the general public. The Tri-Caucus chairpersons are optimistic of their coalition building and plan to host a series of town hall meetings across the state of Georgia to engage the communities.
