Discrimination in Atlanta? (Marietta, Smyrna, Mableton: neighborhood, living in, restaurants)

[NorthmeetsSouth]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Contrary to popular belief, we don't sit around and complain about "the man". Blacks like me actually grew up, studied hard, graduated from college, etc. We were raised to be aware of our surroundings, work twice as hard since we will be judged twice as hard by others, and respect your elders. We were also raised to raise our voice when something isn't right.

Yeah, you have conspiracy theorists and paranoid folks, but they constitute the fringe of the black community. :

Right... and you are exactly who Atlantagreg was NOT talking about. Life has issued you a challenge and you are up to the task. He is talking about the (many) people who are failures and blame it on someone else. And, frankly, it doesn't matter if you are black or white... if you sit around feeling sorry for yourself and blaming others for your shortcomings then you are just worthless. Get off your derriere and work hard and make something of yourself, and then your life will dramatically improve.
I am a woman and I work in the construction industry. Do I have to work harder to prove myself? You bet your ass. But, this is what I have chosen and I don't whine about it... I do something about it. Many of my subcontractors are hispanic. They work long hours and make a lot of money. They never wait for anything to be handed to them, nor do they complain about conspiracies by "the man" to hold them back. They do what needs to be done, and they succeed.
Success is a simple formula, and it is availble to anyone willing to work for it, no matter what their background.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by qdnatl

I will leave you with something that a VP of a national bank once told me and that I’ve found to be true: Don’t be fooled by the “Titles” of the black people in the city, they are merely masks of the “good ol’ boy” network. They may have VP in the front of their names, but at the end of the day they aren’t the ones sitting at the table per se and making the decisions….the white men are.

I will also leave you with just a bit of reality, which the VP of that national bank sees differently through glasses he was trained to see through by his upbringing (the "victim glasses"). If the black man is more qualified than the white man, he will get the job. He will not get the president's job if he is not as qualified, or, through quotas. This may not hold true even today in Cooter, Alabama, but we're not talking about Hicksville, USA where even most white people prefer not to live.

I remember I think in Dekalb County a few years back - that fire chief position came up. Several qualified white men were passed over who actually scored higher on their tests and had more experience, and the position was given to a black man who also happened to have known the higher-up (who was black) for a while. Ironically, a black fireman didn't like this, and took a pocket recorder into the room where he recorded the higher-up saying that there was "no way he was going to give a white boy that job". This isn't the first time that kind of thing has happened in this area that made it to the news - and no doubt it happens a lot more out of the news spotlight.

So yes, there are some people who get bypassed for the high positions in Atlanta. They may not however, be the people you think they are.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by melhr1206

We are planning on a temporary visit to [/color]Atlanta for job hunting. What areas are recommended i.e. proximity to downtown, close to potential companies/employers, residential, condo buildings, etc? … Do you guys have any comments re online job search? …

Once again, thanks for the info.

Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Buckhead - all are getting "condoed" to death, with apartments, transit, and it's where a lot of the white collar jobs are (besides downtown).

[kayrob]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

I will also leave you with just a bit of reality, which the VP of that national bank sees differently through glasses he was trained to see through by his upbringing (the "victim glasses"). If the black man is more qualified than the white man, he will get the job. He will not get the president's job if he is not as qualified, or, through quotas. This may not hold true even today in Cooter, Alabama, but we're not talking about Hicksville, USA where even most white people prefer not to live.

I remember I think in Dekalb County a few years back - that fire chief position came up. Several qualified white men were passed over who actually scored higher on their tests and had more experience, and the position was given to a black man who also happened to have known the higher-up (who was black) for a while. Ironically, a black fireman didn't like this, and took a pocket recorder into the room where he recorded the higher-up saying that there was "no way he was going to give a white boy that job". This isn't the first time that kind of thing has happened in this area that made it to the news - and no doubt it happens a lot more out of the news spotlight.

So yes, there are some people who get bypassed for the high positions in Atlanta. They may not however, be the people you think they are.

So you are basically trying to say that IF in fact there's any discrimination taking place it's Blacks discriminating against Whites? Are you drunk?

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by kayrob

So you are basically trying to say that IF in fact there's any discrimination taking place it's Blacks discriminating against Whites? Are you drunk?

No - I'm saying it's a two way street, and you hear about reverse-discrimination here A LOT more than anything else. If you're about to say it doesn't happen the other way around, well then, it's not happen at all to anyone then and someone else has been dipping into the liquor bottle.

[happymom4]

There is no place free of discrimination...it's a part of life, you deal with it and move on and stop crying "discrimination" because you didn't get what you wanted....

[Britishintown]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

No - I'm saying it's a two way street, and you hear about reverse-discrimination

I think you mean "affirmative action".

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by Britishintown

I think you mean "affirmative action".

No he means reverse-discrimination, i.e. the police chief example above.

Atlanta's great Mayor, Shirley Franklin participated in a commercial supporting the incumbent County Commissioner that said, if you vote for the other guy (white guy), 'it'll be like going back to being hosed down with water'.


I work next to a Canadian Citizen who's originally from Venezuela. You'll be fine. I also work with Arabs, Asians, Blacks, Whites, etc. here in Atlanta, no problems with descrimination in our place of business. There are differences in 'practices' b/t companies and govt. positions, as well as public vs private companies.

[south-to-west]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

No he means reverse-discrimination, i.e. the police chief example above.

Atlanta's great Mayor, Shirley Franklin participated in a commercial supporting the incumbent County Commissioner that said, if you vote for the other guy (white guy), 'it'll be like going back to being hosed down with water'.


I work next to a Canadian Citizen who's originally from Venezuela. You'll be fine. I also work with Arabs, Asians, Blacks, Whites, etc. here in Atlanta, no problems with descrimination in our place of business. There are differences in 'practices' b/t companies and govt. positions, as well as public vs private companies.

Yeah, that DeKalb guy was a scumbag. The truth of the matter is that personally I encountered racism moreso back in Wisconsin than I have down here.

The thing about Atlanta that annoys me is the stupid, trivial crap that stokes racial tensions--i.e. Michael Vick. Some blacks believed him to be the victim of a racist withchunt and some whites saw him solely as a thug. To the rational person, he was neither. Rather he was an idiot who did a good job at squandering away a nine-figure salary in record timing. Also, you have the governor using race-baiting tactics by advocating the use of voter IDs, and prior to that, promising to bring back the Confederate battle emblem as part of the state flag; State Rep. Billy McKinney blaming his daughter's election defeat on Jews; etc, etc.

There are a lot of good people here and I love living here, you just have to do your best to ignore the loud-mouth a-holes on the fringe that muck it up for everybody.

[brooklynbridgemedia]

In anyones opinion.....how is Cobb county or marrietta when it comes down to race?