The recent election of Texas House Rep. Gene Wu of Houston as the new Texas House Democratic Caucus (HDC) chair symbolizes the city’s changing political landscape. This applies directly to Ft. Bend County, where the number of Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) has exploded.
For the past few decades, Ft. Bend County has become a center of growing Black political influence. The recent increase in AAPI residents and political participation has many wondering if an Asian-Black political coalition is a current and/or future reality.
WU TRACK RECORD
Wu (TX Houston District 137) has for years stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of Houston’s Black community in various political battles.
He fought against the state takeover of HISD and Gov. Greg Abbott’s voter suspension efforts that removed over two million individuals from Texas voter rolls just two months before the Nov. 5 election.
“The state of Texas under Gov. Abbott has had a long track record of finding ways to make sure that people he doesn’t like can’t vote,” Wu said just before the 2024 Presidential Election.
In 2020 Wu and State Senator Borris Miles filed bills to ban no-knock warrants statewide in hopes of protecting Texas citizens from the “no-knock” fate that led to Breonna Taylor’s death.
AAPI ALLIES?
Texas Southern University political scientist Michael O. Adams identifies the Southwest Houston area as one of the locations where growing AAPI political power is being flexed.
“As embodied in the person of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Black and AAPI relationship is growing and strengthening, particularly in Southwest Houston and Fort Bend County,” said Adams. “The election of Black and AAPI elected officials in these areas highlights this strengthening bond.”
Adams points out that the AAPI population is growing at the fastest rate of any demographic, and their political power is expected to grow exponentially. The intersection of Black and AAPI communities is particularly significant in Fort Bend Count, one of the most diverse counties in the U.S.
“This area exemplifies the demographic shifts transforming the region’s political landscape. Both communities have grown substantially, not just in numbers but also in civic engagement… Fort Bend has become a focal point for Asian American political activism, often overlapping with issues pertinent to the Black community, such as education reform and healthcare access.”
COMPLEXITIES
Fort Bend County Precinct 2, Place 1 Judge Roderick Garner views the Black/AAPI relationship as “complex.”
“There seems to be a mutual acceptance from a cultural and assimilation perspective,” said Garner. “However, some in the African American community are skeptical about the manner in which other demographics receive deference from the establishment (city, county, state, federal), yet Blacks find themselves clawing for equality on all levels. This sentiment applies to the AAPI community, as well.”
Garner says as elected officials, “Blacks have done considerably well,” but not so much regarding county executives who are not elected.
“Blacks do not enjoy the same opportunities. The question is, ‘Why’?”
