#101. Losing Power in Atlanta (Part Deux)

Stuff Black People Don't Like finds the topic of Atlanta too enjoyable a topic to pass up discussing. The city has been the subject of conversation in the past on SBPDL for a number of reasons, the most glaringly being that the city provides incredible fodder for stories that Ripley's would have a hard time passing off as truth.

Georgia Tech students continue to be the object of Black peoples continuing source of funds and robbery subjects: Condos are still empty in the city, despite Black people trying to enjoy the wonders of the $8,000 tax credit; Morehouse is still trying to fight the epidemic of beltless Black people on their campus; Clayton County continues to provide the blueprint for the future of the United States; and Black people are in mortal danger of losing power in Atlanta, the ultimate Black Mecca.

(More stories of Atlanta and the incredibly proficient Black population will be discussed, but the media of the United States has been focused with a laser intensity on the the mayoral race in Atlanta that saw a white woman force a run-off with Black man, so we must discuss that first)

The city of Atlanta is the Black Mecca in America and yet, this status is giving way to a new hue of white as the city is gentrifying at an alarming rate:

"For decades as white residents fled to the suburbs, Atlanta's black political establishment, led by a string of strong mayors, revived the moribund economy and so revamped the city's image that it earned a national reputation as "Hotlanta."

Ironically, that success - including a winning bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics and a slew of Fortune 500 companies relocating to the city - has brought white voters flocking back to the city and, for the first time in 36 years, could put a white candidate back in the mayor's office when voters go to the polls Tuesday"

"We haven't always gotten the credit for that, no," said former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who oversaw the early days of the city's rebirth during the 1980s. "I brought in 1,100 companies from around the world - $70 billion in private investment - and generated more than a million new jobs.

"But most people think that's automatic, that that would have happened anyway," he said with a laugh.

Black mayors have occupied City Hall since 1973, but this year, a white City Council member is leading in the polls, even though two black civic leaders urged black voters to unite against her.

Mary Norwood, who has served on the Atlanta City Council for eight years and lives in the upscale, mostly white neighborhood of Buckhead, has been expanding her lead over the past six weeks. In a poll released last weekend by Survey USA, 46 percent of respondents said they would vote for Mrs. Norwood over several black candidates. State Sen. Kasim Reed followed with 26 percent and City Council President Lisa Borders came in third with 17 percent.

The contest is posing some delicate questions for a city that has long prided itself on its progressive racial attitudes - the "city too busy to hate."

In the 1960s and '70s, whites fled the city, with the black percentage of the population soaring to about 70 percent in the 1980s.

But between 2000 and 2006, Atlanta's white population grew faster than that of any other U.S. city, according to the Brookings Institution. In 2000, Atlanta was 33 percent white and 61 percent black. In 2007, the numbers were 38 percent white and 57 percent black, according to U.S. Census data.

"Black voters have been moving further and further out of Atlanta, and whites who wanted to be closer to work have been moving in," Mr. Bullock said, noting that the city has grown by 100,000 residents since 2000.

Wait... the article quotes above never mentions why white people fled Atlanta, but one of those reasons is the intriguing amount of crime that was committed by Black people and the simple fact that Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam pointed out about diversity: it doesn't work:

"Urban renewal" laid waste to hundreds of acres in the city, much of which would lie undeveloped as "white flight" and general disinvestment sapped the city's vitality and diminished its tax base.

As the city began to lose population and crime rates soared, Underground Atlanta struggled to survive in the mid-1970s, and when construction of the city's new heavy-rail transit system demolished some of downtown's most important buildings in 1975, Underground Atlanta withered away. "

But going back to the article from The Washington Times, it is important to confront the historical revisionism that the string of Black mayors - such as the incorruptible Bill Campbell - have attempted to pull in their contributions to Atlanta and its growing success. Atlanta grew IN SPITE of its Black population and Black mayors, as companies found the proximity of Atlanta to other major cities desirable for corporate headquarters and distribution hubs for the city is centrally located with easy access to major highways and key distribution networks.

Still, these Fortune 500 companies came to Atlanta well aware of the crime rate, but even more aware of the white flight and the brain power that existed in these Whitopia's that could be put to work and also house transplant white people from around the country.

The city would have grown with or without Black people (historically speaking, the Black population made many parts of Atlanta unlivable, thus creating Whitopia's around the city).

Now, something has happened that threatens to pull the curtain back on the fatuous facade of a post-racial America, for Atlanta is the city that isn't too busy to hate:

"Some analysts have said the potential election of front-runner Mary Norwood as the city’s first white mayor in 36 years would prove that America is undergoing a generational shift toward colorblind politics. Others saw the struggle for traction by African-American “card carrying Democrats” in a liberal, majority-black city as a sign that Mr. Obama’s coattails have proven woefully short.

Conclusions will have to wait until next month. In a Dec. 1 runoff contest, City Councilor Norwood will face off against Kasim Reed, a state senator with ties to hip-hop artists and the city’s civil rights old guard."

The ultimate choice between a black man and a white woman seems to have cooled voters’ ardor in a city where a white influx in the past decade has changed the racial dynamics of the majority-black Southern metropolis.

“Now the two candidates have roughly a month to fight for every voter among an electorate that seems to be exhausted and mistrustful,” writes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Cameron McWhirter. “And the ever-present issues of race, gender and class … likely will be amplified in coming weeks as the contest settles into one between a white woman and black man. Many Atlantans found the prospect unsettling.”

The poorest black neighborhoods on the West and Southwest sides saw dismal turnout, with one precinct receiving only 5 percent of eligible voters. Turnout was higher in Atlanta’s primarily white neighborhoods.

Pre-election polls indicated that about 30 percent of black voters intended to vote for Norwood. Between 52 and 70 percent of white voters intended to vote for Norwood, depending on which poll is cited.

In the end, Norwood received 46 percent of the vote and Senator Reed 36 percent. Both candidates will aggressively go after those who voted for third-place finisher Lisa Borders, who received 14 percent.

Reed, who counts as fans the rapper Ludacris and much of Atlanta’s civil rights power base, did capture much of the vote on the largely black Southwest side. But Norwood, a former radio executive and neighborhood booster, made surprisingly deep inroads into the black community, and she is viewed by many as a gung-ho proponent of rich and poor neighborhoods alike."

We don't live in a fantasy world where identity politics don't dominate every facet of our lives; in the real world, Black people fall in line lockstep behind whichever candidate looks exactly like them and has the same skin pigmentation that they do, damning Dr. Martin Luther King's excoriations to stop judging by the color of skin, but by the contents of ones character:

“The fact that you are an African American will not guarantee that you win the mayor’s office,” Reed said. “I think that’s healthy. If you cannot walk a path through various communities, you will not be mayor now, or in the future.”

Norwood likewise stressed her connections and grass-roots support in every area of the city, black and white, rich or poor.

“Dr. King said we should be evaluated on who we are, not what we look like,” Norwood said. “I’m very hopeful citizens of Atlanta will evaluate me on who I am, not what I look like, and they will select me to be their next mayor."

Race is all that matters. Black people - to their credit - understand this, for they view any attack on one of their own as an attack on all:

Race was a leading predictor in whom Atlantans chose for mayor last Tuesday, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of election data shows. While some voters crossed racial lines, the overwhelming majority did not.

Data show:

● Norwood won more than 58 percent of her vote from three predominantly white council districts — on the north and northeast sides of the city.

● Reed won 57 percent of his votes from five predominantly black council districts — on the east, west and south sides.

● Some voters crossed over racial lines. Norwood did better in predominantly black council districts than Reed did in white council districts. She won 23 percent of the votes cast in black council districts, beating Borders’ 15.5 percent there.

● Reed won 14.5 percent of the vote in predominantly white council districts, compared to Borders’ 12.3 percent.

● Turnout in white areas was about 10 points higher than in the black areas, but turnout everywhere was low (only about 30 percent).

● In mixed-race council districts, the two candidates battled more or less to a draw, with Norwood getting about 40 percent of the vote, compared with Reed’s 37.5 percent.

Norwood is just a disingenuous white liberal, who actually believes Dr. King had any desire to create a color-blind world. Black people will never want to live in a world that is color blind, for their race and melanin-enriched skin is what gives them any separation in this world and to lose that gravy-train would leave them truly disadvantaged.

Black people will lose power completely in Atlanta. That is not the main worry though... the main worry is that a new administration might audit the previous Black people run governments and discover incongruities in financial reporting, city contract distribution and cronyism that crippled the city, or worse, find financial cover-ups that make the Reality of Jefferson County (in Alabama) look like a mere accounting hiccup.

Stuff Black People Don't Like includes losing power in Atlanta (part deux), because that city grew in spite of Black people and will continue to grow and become a majority white city and much greater (and safer), without a majority Black population. Hotlanta? Black people are well aware this phrase will be a thing of past, resting in the lexicon graveyard with Freaknik.

Mrs. Norwood might not win the run-off, but the truth is simple: race is an issue that will never, ever go away. Ever:

"A look at the top black and white precincts in fact shows a serious racial split. In those five top white precincts, Reed never topped 7 percent. But in the top black precincts, Norwood ran as high as 28 percent. Prying those voters away from Norwood is likely to be one of Reed’s top priorities in the coming days.

No doubt Norwood’s organization should be credited for much of her performance in African-American dominated precincts. And black voters have had a history of voting for white candidates — more so than the other way around."

SBPDL fears no truth. Honest people who care about the future of country - white liberals need not apply - and what this election shows us about actual race relations in America must engage in a true dialogue, or suffer the results of Balkanization.