This thesis investigates the formation of a Filipino American community in Atlanta from the 1960s to the 1980s. The legacy of the colonial relationship between the Philippines and the United States, international relations, and the labor needs of a growing Sunbelt city created a small stream of highly educated Filipinos into Atlanta. Fitting into the model minority stereotype, highly educated Filipinos accessed positions in racially stratified work environments and neighborhoods that barred African Americans. As Asian workers from a developing nation and as foreigners, they encountered subordination in their professions and discourtesy and hostility in predominantly white communities. To contest their racialization, migrants established ethnic associations that presented their professional contributions and the complexity of their emerging ethnic identity as Filipino Americans. The promotion of Atlanta as a global business leader facilitated the articulation of a Filipino American distinctiveness in an internationalizing city.