‘Not Waiting My Turn’

When state lawmakers and local attorneys organized a protest early this month to push for the release of Mohamed Naser, a Greensboro man detained by ICE without apparent cause, Akir Khan was front and center.

Holding a sign that read “Build Bridges, Not Walls,” Khan looked around him in the crowd quizzically.

“There’s no one here from the city council,” he said. “No one.”

State Sen. Michael Garrett (D-Guilford) and State Rep.Tracy Clark (D-Guilford) said they wouldn’t read too much into that. The event was thrown together quickly, they said, and local officials have been working behind the scenes—including on a recent trip by Mayor Nancy Vaughan to Washington, D.C.,—in support of Naser.

But for Khan, 46, the absences spoke volumes, more evidence that elected city leaders don’t seem to have the pulse of the entire community.

As past chair of The Piedmont Interfaith Council and Board Chair of the Out of the Garden Project, Khan has worked with marginalized communities and to feed hungry children in Greensboro. As an adjunct instructor and coordinator for student success and leadership at High Point University, he’s helped young people in the Triad realize their potential. Working with aerospace company Jet It and now technology and Internet company J&A Solutions, he’s seen how important jobs in emerging industries are to the city. Now, he says, he’s ready to be mayor.

As a first-time candidate, he has his work cut out for him. He’s facing long-time Council Member Marikay Abuzuaiter and Robbie Perkins, a former mayor of Greensboro who has already been running for more than a year.

Khan says he appreciates Perkins and Abuzuaiter’s service, but he believes it’s time for a new generation to take the lead in Greensboro. His father, a long-time economics professor at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, recently warned him that change won’t come easily.

“He told me this morning, ‘Akir, you’re up against the machine. These people have been in office their whole lives.’” Khan said. “Someone else told me, ‘Well, Akir, we want them to win because they have institutional knowledge.’ Well, you know what? I don’t want their institutional knowledge. Some of those institutional ideas, some of those policies, have been bad.”

Though Greensboro’s city council races are technically non-partisan, today’s divisive state and national political environment has made party affiliation a larger part of the conversation this year. In a city that leans Democratic Perkins, a Republican, has always done well downplaying his affiliation and dismissing partisanship, even scoring endorsements from prominent Democrats. Abuzuaiter, a Democrat, could benefit from anti-Republican sentiment in an off-presidential election year in which progressives are reacting to the policies and politics of President Donald Trump.

All that makes Khan’s own status as a registered Republican complicated.

The son of Indian and Pakistani immigrant, Khan is a first-generation American with strong criticisms of ICE. A Muslim interfaith leader in one of the state’s most diverse cities, he doesn’t believe in favoring one religion, particularly in government. A crusader for food equity, he opposes cuts to SNAP benefits and other social safety net programs. Much of Khan’s profile seems at odds with his own party.

Still, he believes he can build a broad coalition of those who aren’t now being represented.

The following exchange has been edited for clarity and length.

The Thread: Early this year, you were one of forty-five people who put their names forward to fill the unexpired term of the late Yvonne Johnson, a former mayor and at-large council member. The council ultimately selected Jamilla Pinder. Now you’re running for mayor. Why not run in the at-large race or even your own district rather than filing for mayor as a first-time candidate?

Khan: Jamilla, my classmate from [James B.]Dudley [High School] was selected, and that’s great. Happy for Jamilla.

You know, to me, I tell my friends, this year is like The Avengers coming together, right? All these superheroes from Greensboro, they’ve never touched politics before. You see the wave of people filing for office.

I’ve heard people saying that it’s not Akir’s turn. They’ve called my supporters. They say, “Akir should run for city council at-large, and he should wait his turn for mayor.” I’m not waiting my turn. But the problem is, they see me taking the vote away from certain candidates. So there’s maybe some Muslim vote taken away. There’s also maybe Republicans who are compassionate conservatives who are not happy with [President Donald] Trump, right?

I’m going out to these pockets because I am who I am. But for them to call my supporters already and tell them I should drop off right now, they’re worried about something. Because if they lose power, lose control, something’s gonna change. So Robbie and Marikay might raise $300,000 this election, I don’t know, just to be able to keep control of city council. But I think that my coalition of people that are hard working, blue collar, white collar, pro-business, east side, interfaith, concerned with child hunger—if they come together, they’re gonna win. I think that’s stronger than all of them. I honestly believe that.

A lot of your political positions and deeply held beliefs seem at odds with the modern Republican party. I’d love to hear how you became a Republican and what it’s like for you in the party right now.

I think it started off when I was in Charlotte. I was a student at UNC-Charlotte and volunteering as a community liaison for the Muslim community for [then-Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory] and 9/11 happened. We were scared. We didn’t know what was going to happen. We thought what happened to the Japanese in WWII was going to happen to us. And so I called Pat on the phone, and I said, “Hey Pat, I need you to come to our mosque because we are scared. We don’t know what’s gonna happen here in Charlotte.” And Pat said, “Whatever you need, you let me know.” And he brought his Acura Prelude down to the mosque, and he took his shoes off, went inside, and he spoke from the heart. He said, “Guys, look, I’m here to protect you. Here’s my office. Here’s my number.” He spent about 45 minutes with us. And he told the Muslim community, after the worst disaster, “I’m here for you.” Compassionate conservative. I fell in love with that party, right? And I’ve voted Republican and Democrat, but that’s when I fell in love with the party.

A lot of the people who embraced that “compassionate conservative” label in those days—George W. Bush, John McCain—fell out of the mainstream of today’s Republican party. What’s that been like for you?

People do come up to me and they say, “Akir, you’re Republican. Why are you concerned about the east side?” Because I’ve been doing non-profit work for 12 years, I’m feeding the east side, and these people are not represented. It’s not about losing the middle class. We’re losing the people that are below the middle class. The life expectancy on the east side is six years less than it was. We should all be ashamed of that.

I keep telling people that you can’t expect a different result doing the same freaking thing. That’s definitely insane. So for me, as a community leader in the interfaith community, I’m looking at food scarcity, food insecurity, and I’m focused on that, man. I’m ashamed of some things that the party has done. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” is not big and beautiful for my residents of Greensboro. But I was always more of a John McCain conservative.

I think as an American, you can’t just always be, “I’m Republican, I’m Democrat.” This campaign, to me, is about human values. I think my party is wrong a lot of times. Part of being a good American is speaking out when things are wrong, right? That’s what the John McCain Republican did. And so for me in this election, I’m glad it’s non-partisan — but I’m not focused on party. I’m focused on specific values, specific issues.

One of those issues is the lack of investment in East Greensboro, as compared to other areas of the city. Talk to me about what kind of change is possible there.

There is just no reason for whole areas of the city not to have a grocery store with fresh, healthy food. If I was there, I would have even had a government-run grocery store if you can’t bring it in through the private sector. Of course, I’d try to bring it about through the private sector. But if you can’t do that, we should have a proper grocery store that the city of Greensboro can own. If I’m in office, if I’m a leader, that’s my promise to the people. If the private sector can’t do it, we’ll do it through government.

When you look at the places that are seeing development, that are seeing investment, it’s not East Greensboro. It’s not Glenwood. My parents live in The Cardinal. They can walk to a good bus stop. Why can’t you say that on Bryan Boulevard? Why can’t you say that everywhere in the city? As mayor, I wouldn’t be for building Greensboro on the backs of the working class. I’m not for a prepared food tax that’s going to go toward The Coliseum, toward the Tanger Center, when people don’t even have grocery stores.

Joe Killian is The Assembly’s Greensboro editor. He covered cops, courts, government and politics at Greensboro’s daily paper, The News & Record, for a decade. He joined us from NC Newsline in Raleigh, where he was senior investigative reporter.

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