Cambridge Common is typically home to the occasional jogger, the unfortunate Harvard student on their way to the Quad, and hawkish tourists. But on September 16, the usually mundane park was transformed with a crowd chanting phrases such as “Math!” “Andrew!” and “Yang Gang!”
Supporters from all over Cambridge and the greater Boston area rallied together in support of an unlikely, but nevertheless impressive, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate: Andrew Yang. A child of immigrants turned entrepreneur turned presidential candidate, Yang’s story is a true depiction of the American dream. Polling in seventh among the Democratic candidates, Yang has built his campaign by exposing the harms of automation and proposing Universal Basic Income as the remedy. However, an understated element of Yang’s platform is the way he has uncoventionally shed a positive light on a hotly debated issue: immigration.
Yang has established, more so than most other candidates bidding for the Democratic nomination, that immigration is essential to our country and that he himself stands as living proof of its necessity. In the third Democratic debate in September, Yang said, “My father grew up on a peanut farm in Asia with no floor. And now his son is running for president. That is the immigration story that we have to be able to share with the American people.” The statement was received with immense applause, signaling his growing support. The emphasis on immigration especially resounds with Harvard students, perhaps explaining the campus’s particular interest in Yang. Yang’s image reflects his background as a child of immigrants, standing as a symbol for his vision of America’s future.
The Road to Presidential Candidacy
Andrew Yang’s path to the presidential campaign was quite an unconventional one, as he is one of the only front-runners with no formal political experience. Long before Yang preached the mantra of human capitalism to the masses, he was a college student at Brown University concentrating in economics and political science. Son to an IBM researcher and a local university systems administrator, Yang says he “grew up nerdy.” Brown is where his journey began, where the values of optimism and humanism were first instilled in him. After graduating, he attended Columbia Law School and then worked briefly as a corporate lawyer, but he learned that his passions lay elsewhere: in tech.
In true entrepreneurial fashion, Yang hit the ground running. The first tech startup he created failed, but Yang worked two jobs to sustain his family and to establish himself. In 2006, Yang was named the CEO of test-prep company Manhattan Prep, which he had helped establish. It was later acquired by Kaplan.
In 2011, Yang found a way to integrate his passions of tech, entrepreneurship and education into work, creating the non-profit Ventures for America. The company’s mission is to train college students to run start-ups in struggling cities around the nation. Yang’s intent in founding the organization was to create jobs and encourage economic growth in cities like Detroit, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. But Yang admits his goals for VFA were too ambitious. The nonprofit did not create as many jobs as was planned, and it was “growing linearly … not exponentially.”
At that point, Yang was well-versed in the issues that influenced employment. The imminent automation of many markets would be the biggest driver of further unemployment. He stepped down from his position as CEO of Ventures For America and moved on to the next best thing that he thought would minimize the impact of the impending job loss pandemic: he decided to run for president.
Immigration and Innovation
The 44-year-old entrepreneur’s campaign has primarily focused on how automation and artificial intelligence is going to lead to mass unemployment. His passion for his work in education, tech, and community service is evident in his policies and his campaign. The message that Yang relates is important, but the fact that he, a son of immigrants, is able to convey it on such a large stage is itself meaningful.
Immigration is a key issue that has eaten up many minutes on the Democratic debate stage. Although Yang used up most of his airtime relaying the tech-focused core message of his campaign, he has also vocalized relevant and real issues regarding immigration — like the fact that almost half of Fortune 500 companies were created by immigrants or their children. Moreover, within the broader framework of his platform of prioritizing human capital, Yang has presented his own story as the ultimate proof.
“I’m going to say to immigrants, ‘Come to America, because if you come here, your son, your daughter can run for president. The water is great. And this is where you want to build a company, build a family, and build a life,’” he said at the September debate. “This country has been a magnet for human capital for generations. If we lose that, we lose something integral to our continued success, and that is where I would lead as president.”
“I am proof that our democracy still works,” Yang said on another occasion, in his closing statement at the first Democratic debates in Miami. Indeed, the candidate regards himself as the antithesis to current President Donald Trump. He closed out the rally in Cambridge Common with a question: “What’s the opposite of Donald Trump?” The crowd erupted with an iconic witty response: “An Asian guy who’s good at math!”
The portrayal of Yang in this way is especially relevant to Harvard students, who not only are overwhelmingly unsupportive of Trump, but also largely value the importance of immigration. Many students have been personally affected by Trump’s immigration policies, and campus administrators have condemned them.
Just a couple of months ago, Ismail Ajjawi ‘23 was denied entry to the United States, sparking a massive outcry on campus. Several Harvard student groups collectively penned a petition in support of Ajjawi that received more than 7,000 signatures. University President Lawrence Bacow, a child of immigrants himself, wrote in an email to students early in the semester: “Various international students and scholars eager to establish lives here on our campus find themselves the subject of scrutiny and suspicion in the name of national security, and they are reconsidering the value of joining our community in the face of disruptions and delays.”
Additionally, a new project led by Harvard students, appropriately named the Immigration Initiative at Harvard, seeks to tackle the United States’ exclusionary immigration measures by advancing non-partisan research on the topic.
Immigration is an issue that reverberates throughout the College. Foreign students compose 12.8 percent of the admitted class of 2023, but many Harvard students call for more. They believe that international students bring much-needed diversity to campus and that more should be afforded the opportunity to gain a world-class education. Yang’s image as a child of immigrants embodies this sentiment.
The Current Political Climate
Yang’s message is especially important in a time where immigrants have been vilified and slandered by some of our country’s top leaders. From the utterly inhumane incarceration of children at the U.S.-Mexico border to chants of “Send her back!” at a Trump rally this past summer, the current administration’s sentiment towards immigrants has been overwhelmingly negative. The climate surrounding immigration perpetuated by the current administration makes it essential to address on campus.
Andrew Yang did so much more than list his policy issues when he spoke about immigration at the third Democratic debate in September. He represented a group of individuals that has been berated by our country’s leaders, and he gave them hope. He has become a representation of American values and an unconventional trailblazer in presidential politics. Yang’s representation of immigrants is resounding on Harvard’s campus, where these issues are not just relevant, but personal.
Image Credit: Flickr / Gage Skidmore