East-West Travelblog: From ‘atheist’ to ‘Christian’ over breakfast

Travelblog is a series of occasional posts by RNS national correspondent Kimberly Winston, who is on the road with in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tenn., Honolulu, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan with the 2015 Senior Journalists Seminar, sponsored by the East-West Center in conjunction with the U.S. State Department.

Kimberly Winston | August 27, 2015

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) The single largest community of Iraqi Kurds in the U.S. is right here in Music City, the buckle of the Bible Belt.

They are joined by significant numbers of Somalis, Bhutanese, Egyptians, Latinos and Asians. There are so many international newcomers to Nashville that in just five more years, non-whites will make up the majority of the population.

Yet all of Middle Tennessee’s diverse voices are singing together in harmony, Karl Dean, the outgoing Democratic mayor, told our group of 17 international journalists traveling with on a fellowship organized by the East-West Center,

“Our city is changing rapidly and in my opinion that is a good thing,” Dean said as he addressed us at the Mayor’s Office in downtown Nashville. “I think the city’s increase in immigration has gone hand-in-hand with its rise in economic prominence and as an important city in the U.S. I have always taken the viewpoint that when an immigrant comes to the U.S. and chooses to live in Nashville to see out their dream that is the highest compliment they can give us.”

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/08/27/east-west-travelblog-atheist-christian-breakfast/