Getting Down to Business in Dixie

During the 1980s and the 1990s, the South experienced another demographic change as an increasing number of Indian immigrants and their families relocated to southern states for business opportunities. Indian-owned hotels and motels became a growing phenomenon as migrants took advantage of affordable operating costs across the South. While many Indians maintained successful businesses, this success did not come without a price. Many southerners resented another possible “Asian invasion” of “un-American” outsiders set on making profits by driving Americans out of business. As a result, Indian hoteliers created an advocacy group—the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in 1989. This chapter argues that the experiences of Indians with business discrimination are an indication of the complex “post-racial” history of the South.