Is Atlanta afraid of a Black Mecca?

Comments from Creative Loafing’s November cover story

Now that December’sCreative Loafing is on the streets and the mayor’s race is(kind of)over, we want to revisit last month’s cover story, in which we “endorsed” Donald Glover for mayor. The cover story, ‘Donald Glover for mayor: Fear of a Black Mecca ,’ received a strong, wide-ranging reaction. From getting called racists to hearing we’re irresponsible for endorsing a candidate who was not even running, we got it all. Some commentators even liked the story, while others exposed their own prejudices. We pulled reactions from CL’s website, Facebook, and Reddit. So grab some popcorn and have a look.

Bmandoh: The article was strange, but I understood what the author is describing. I’m sure there will be an influx of commenters here talking about racism against whites, or how discriminatory this article is because we’re all Americans. But that doesn’t change the fact that the writer has a point, specifically about how every time black communities and cities build themselves into something white america wants to move on it. It’s always going to be a touchy subject, but that doesn’t mean we can’t, or shouldn’t, talk about it.

Another ATLien: I’ve read Creative Loafingfor many many years. This is without a doubt the most unabashedly racist rant I’ve ever read in this publication and lacking in reality. While the city of Atlanta’s AA population may have declined, AA population in the metro area has increased 50 percent overall. The metro area has one of the highest rates of AA home ownership, business ownership and average income level. Atlanta’s overall crime rate has declined greatly since the ’70s ... Atlanta has the top-rated HBCUs in the country, and Georgia State has the largest number annually of AA graduates of any college in the country. For these reasons, the Atlanta area continues to be a ’ Black Mecca,’ and no matter who the mayor of Atlanta is, that fact isn’t going to change. So what if it isn’t a ‘black’ city; it isn’t a white city either, and it never will be.

9191qw: Atlanta is a very ‘racial’ place. That’s just how this city is. If you want to put your blinders on and act like ’ who even says black/white,’ fine. But that’s just not the reality we live in.

OffCascade: I feel like the writer and I agree with him ‘_ I can’t wait to read the books about what happened to Chocolate City Atlanta. Very sad that we gave up our city like this ‘_ The black Democrat bourgeoisie have sold out black people again, as usual, choosing wealthy developers over the poor and working class people.

Dillpickles007: I thought the article was well written, but as a white millennial in-town living Atlantan, I don’t really know how to feel about the sentiments it expresses.

I’m not trying to push black people out of the city, but I’m aware that I’m right in the middle of the gentrification wave the author is talking about. I don’t want to live up near the Big Chicken, but I also feel for old black couples getting priced out of the Grant Park home they’ve lived in for half their lives.

Tyler Parks: Y’all didn’t give up your city, just drive around any black neighborhood in Atlanta and see why anyone with money has fled, almost all local businesses are boarded up or the cashier is behind a bulletproof barrier that can withstand a grenade. White people didn’t do this like the article is suggesting ... Is the writer seriously upset that money is being dumped into Vine City and the West End? Is he seriously sad that ghettos are being rejuvenated? Has this writer ever actually lived in either of these hoods?

Mikegrier007: As a native Atlantan (Candler Road & SWATS) I fully get this [CL’s cover story] and have had the same anxiety. The places such as Grady homes, Grant Park and Candler Park used to belong to older AA families. They push those people out and add high priced housing to run the people who were born there out.

StableChaos: [CL’s cover story] is racist garbage. Flip the races and imagine this was written in the 1970s by a white guy worried about Atlanta becoming more black. You’d call him a white supremacist and swear he was in the Klan.

Ryan Campbell: Beautifully written article that nails the problem with this year’s mayoral race.

Bmandoh: The point is that they are poor because they’ve been second-class citizens up until 60-ish years ago and that means not being able to accumulate the kind of wealth that allows them to improve their communities. So white folks come back around, ’ revitalize’ an area, say ‘look at all we’ve done here,’ then shift the blame to the poor black communities for not investing in themselves with money they don’t have. ... And it’s not that they don’t want their communities to improve or be better, they just don’t want it to come at the expense of their displacement. Because that just perpetuates the cycle of poverty that they struggle to break out of.

Donald Schneider: I don’t see any impending erasure with the tired and garbage mumble rap scene and Tyler Perry’s direct to DVD bargain bin movies being churned out [ad nauseam]. Whoever wrote this garbage needs to stay in whatever town they moved to.

Hailsouthern: Whenever I see comments that stoke division along racial lines, I used to get upset. But now I just know you’re a paid Russian shill. Go suck puny Putin’s pitiful peepee and leave our country alone.

Amanda Michael: The most genuine and real article I’ve read in a long time!

Oydave: What a load. There is so much learned knowledge that is totally wrong that I don’t know where to start.

Lindsay Pingel: Can [one] of you please get me a copy of this issue and mail it to me?!

Tomas Nosal: Is Donald Glover really running for mayor of Atlanta?

Comments have been edited for space and clarity.






Activism
Issues
The Blotter
COVID Updates
Latest News
Current Issue