As we were winding our way up the mountains in Sacred Valley in Peru, my idle chatter with our guide turned to elections. Apparently it is mandatory to vote in Peru unless you are prepared to pay a small fine. Then the guide asked me about elections in the U.S. “I believe that Hilloree Clintone is running against some crazee guy. Really mad guy,” he said.

Picture a dirt poor part of Peru, sparsely populated with small farming communities. Very few people have TVs and social media is limited to those with smart phones, which again means relatively few people. I was there with my family to celebrate Christmas on Macchu Picchu. Not the kind of place that you would think of as monitoring the U.S. presidential elections.

Then it struck me. Trump is a global phenomenon. A billionaire loudmouth with funny hair—OK, I can see that getting global attention. But surprisingly, I am seeing him slowly becoming a great unifier. People all around the world are finding common ground in our dislike for this person.

A petition to ban Trump from the UK gathered over 500,000 signatures. In spite of being a recent victim of terrorism, the French Prime Minister denounced Trump’s plan. English papers from around the world report with amusement and bewilderment about this person who is well on his way to becoming the leader of the free world. Unfortunately, I also sense some glee that Trump’s ascendency is the beginning of the end of US dominance of world affairs.

Until three months ago, my life as a technology entrepreneur-turned-investor carried on almost in a bubble, with little interaction nor common ground with much of the non-startup world. But the last three months have been a personal awakening. The non-stop spewing of hate on TV has suddenly broken the bubble and I find myself suddenly aware of the other minorities around me that are trying to get by.

Is it my imagination or am I seeing a sense of camaraderie between me and the Chinese waiter, Mexican landscaper, black security guard, Korean drycleaner, Bangladeshi guy at Dunkin Donuts, Egyptian Uber driver, and many others whose origins I can only guess at? Trump has helped us break all other barriers of economic and social groupings. There is a realization dawning on us that we are viewed now through a different lens, one that gives primacy to race and religion.

Indian Americans constitute around 1 percent of the U.S. population. So as an Indian American, there is a constant assessment of how to fit in with mainstream thinking and striving to find my place in the business and social swirl around me. Even that one percent is so diverse that a standard label may not apply across all of us. Many of us are Hindus, but there are also large numbers of Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs among us as well as members of various minor religious groupings like Buddhist, Jain, Jews, and so on.

So Trump’s attack on various minorities and pandering to the racist sentiment of the 25 percent of the U.S. population that dislikes minorities, has actually had the effect of various groups coalescing as the “hated”. A random scan of various articles and comments on various online forums will find minorities fighting back against right wing white Christian dogma. Where we saw stark differences before we now see many commonalities.

Just as I was starting to question my place in America, it occurred to me that minorities are closing in on being 50 percent of the population, and I belong in that 50 percent. I am not the one percent any more. Lucky for me, 50 percent is twice the size of 25 percent, so why should I worry about my place in this country? Perhaps the 25 percent should start worrying about what their place is and how they can adapt to living in this multicultural country that is the foundation for American exceptionalism.

In 12 months when Trump gets “schlonged” (hopefully deep and hard) by Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, I will wear my Buddhist prayer beads, don a Yarmulke, light a Diwali lamp, and prostrate myself before the Holy Cross and sing praises to Allah. By doing that, I would be singing the national anthem as it was originally envisioned by our founding fathers.

You can follow Sashi Reddi on Twitter at @sashi_reddi

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