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Just want to provide a (not so) little recap of the forum I mentioned above. Curious if anyone else went to it to see what their thoughts are.
If anyone thinks race isn't going to be the central issue in this campaign... think again. Let me preface the following comments: I really don't know how to think about what I heard last night. On one level, I get it. On another level, a lot of what I heard sounded...wrong. I try to empathize, I know it's not 100% possible, but I want to to give issues that maybe I can't understand a lot of leeway. It is very important to me that everyone is provided an equal chance and prior injustices that still have an affect to this day are remedied. But what I heard last night fell well outside that, IMO. So with that said...
The forum was started off by Michael (not going by Killer Mike that night ) letting everyone know that the forum was going to be laser focused on black issues. Ok, there wasn't mention of that in the invite, but I would like to hear what my fellow citizens are concerned about. There was then a lot of talk of preserving Atlanta as a black city. I would say this appeared to be the number one concern of the forum and the audience at large. Ill talk about that more later.
One of the first questions was to a very young candidate (sorry, can't remember your name) asking him, if his candidacy didn't look viable, would he drop out and who would he choose to support. There were a lot of cheers from the audience, I heard a couple of people yell something along the lines of "get out". They were clearly upset that he was splitting the black vote and wanted him to drop out to consolidate it. That just wrong IMO. Choice is a good thing. Lack of choice is why we have the pres we have now. It came across as bullying the guy.
There was a lot of talk of gentrification. I think Kwanza Hall rebutted the charges of sitting back on gentrification pretty well. He explained that while the black population of his district dropped something like 59% to 17%, a lot of that had to do with redrawing district lines and a increase in population. He claims there was no significant loss of black residents over that time. He mentioned some programs to help counter the negative effects of gentrification, not sure how useful they would be. He also made sure to mention he wanted to be a mayor for all of Atlanta and didn't seem to pander to the black preservation crowd.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was decent, better than I expected. But I can tell she was going to pander to the preservation crowd. I don't think she would be terrible, but I think we can do better. The hosts and the audience very clearly were not fans of Mayor Reed. They were asking a lot of candidates how they would do things differently than Reed. They especially pressed her. She wouldn't distance herself too much from Reed, they gave her opportunity to do and the crowd wanted it, but she didn't. I have more respect for her in that.
Mary Norwood did a terrible job. I feel bad for her because she had to arrive late, she didn't catch the vibe of the room. But she said a lot stuff in about the least politically appealing way possible. While others were focusing their campaigns on righting wrongs, she kept mentioning that she wanted to make sure everyone in Atlanta has fun. It was weird. I can tell she was tired. With that said, her answers just didn't impress me and I don't think she will be a unifying candidate.
Peter Aman said the F word, that was kind of fun. But then Michael made him apologize to the old ladies in the audience Very mixed feelings about him. I think in some ways he has a real good grasp of some issues, but overall he didn't really impress. Cathy Woolard on the other hand, very much impressed. She had very thoughtful answers and an impressive resume. I think she runs a bit farther left than I, but I definitely want to see more.
Vincent Fort impressed as well, I think he brings too much emotion to the table, but it's not misplaced. I respect him a lot more now. Mr. Eaves was ok. He talks a lot about criminal justice reform, which is very important, but I just think Fulton County's track record in this is abysmal. Maybe he couldn't fix it on it's own, unfairly or not, I'm holding it against him for now.
I couldn't stay much later as I wasn't feeling well and they were running behind. I wish I could have seen more. I WISH the moderators wouldn't have spent so much damn time talking before the candidates. Oh well. My mind was not made last night, but I think Kwanza Hall and Cathy Woolard are top of the bill for me for now. I'd like to hear more from the rest of the candidates as well.
I must note, I felt weird leaving the forum last night. It was highly racially charged. There was a noticeably cold reception to white candidates. The frequent theme of keeping Atlanta a black city... it just seems toxic. I get why Atlanta is a city black people are proud of. I'm extremely proud to be a part of a city that has helped uplift. But it's not the possession of any one race. I kept feeling strong anti-diversity undertones in much of what was said. This is ours, other people are coming to get it, and we must protect it. I might be misinterpreting, but that's the impression I walked away with.
I know I'll get my head ripped off for saying this, but if that was a forum hosted by a white people in front of a white audience, I would have walked out of there in protest and disgust. It was very reminiscent of the vibe I get from hearing interviews with white supremacy jerks. People that aren't us are taking what is ours and we have to make a stand. I get that Atlanta is a unique place and the desire to make sure it becomes an even better place for black people to thrive. I also understand (hope) that the desire to maintain this doesn't come out of hate. But I'm honestly not sure at this point. There wasn't talk of working together. There was fear of people not like themselves taking over. There was very little to nothing unifying in what I heard last night. Maybe the vibe changed as the night went on, but I doubt it.
Last night made me sad, it felt very regressive. We should be concerned about issues of race and fix what we can. But the desire for one race to dominate and maintain power, solely along racial lines, is wrong. At least that's how I see it. I'd love to see if someone else had a different take, I'd be happy to find out I was misinterpreting things last night.
Racially charged? Color me surprised.
"For the people of Baltimore—I don't criticize rioting because I understand it. But after the fires die down: organize, strategize, and mobilize. Like Ferguson, you have an opportunity to start anew. I don't have a solution because whoever's there will have to come up with it. But we need community relations: riots are the language of the unheard."
Thanks for this. That was the vibe I was getting from many city residents. A large chunk of them believe electing a white mayor is step 1 to Atlanta losing its identity as a black city. I think many people will vote for whichever black candidate is in the runoff regardless of positions. I find that very disappointing and sad.
I also appreciate tiki's report.
Wish we could simply elect the best candidate and leave their race out of it.
I don't think you can really leave race out of the equation in the election of any mayor in the south, but Atlanta of all places, it's going to be a factor. I'm not saying that Atlanta shouldn't have a white mayor. I think it's possible for a non-black candidate to be the one who commits to a platform that does the most to lift up the black community. It would take an exceptional person to get that message out, consistently, and deliver on the promise. I think Cathy Woolard and Kwanza Hall are unifying candidates, who have constituencies that cross boundaries of race, class, and gender. I hope they do well in this process.
Thank you, tikigod, for the summary. I can't speak to the tone of the event since I wasn't there, but I think it's important for us to try to understand why marginalized communities don't all feel or act a certain way; sometimes you'll come across people who you agree with on principle but either push harder than you'd like, or don't do as much as you'd like. Killer Mike is a thoughtful and caring guy.
Just want to provide a (not so) little recap of the forum I mentioned above. Curious if anyone else went to it to see what their thoughts are.
If anyone thinks race isn't going to be the central issue in this campaign... think again. Let me preface the following comments: I really don't know how to think about what I heard last night. On one level, I get it. On another level, a lot of what I heard sounded...wrong. I try to empathize, I know it's not 100% possible, but I want to to give issues that maybe I can't understand a lot of leeway. It is very important to me that everyone is provided an equal chance and prior injustices that still have an affect to this day are remedied. But what I heard last night fell well outside that, IMO. So with that said...
The forum was started off by Michael (not going by Killer Mike that night ) letting everyone know that the forum was going to be laser focused on black issues. Ok, there wasn't mention of that in the invite, but I would like to hear what my fellow citizens are concerned about. There was then a lot of talk of preserving Atlanta as a black city. I would say this appeared to be the number one concern of the forum and the audience at large. Ill talk about that more later.
One of the first questions was to a very young candidate (sorry, can't remember your name) asking him, if his candidacy didn't look viable, would he drop out and who would he choose to support. There were a lot of cheers from the audience, I heard a couple of people yell something along the lines of "get out". They were clearly upset that he was splitting the black vote and wanted him to drop out to consolidate it. That just wrong IMO. Choice is a good thing. Lack of choice is why we have the pres we have now. It came across as bullying the guy.
There was a lot of talk of gentrification. I think Kwanza Hall rebutted the charges of sitting back on gentrification pretty well. He explained that while the black population of his district dropped something like 59% to 17%, a lot of that had to do with redrawing district lines and a increase in population. He claims there was no significant loss of black residents over that time. He mentioned some programs to help counter the negative effects of gentrification, not sure how useful they would be. He also made sure to mention he wanted to be a mayor for all of Atlanta and didn't seem to pander to the black preservation crowd.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was decent, better than I expected. But I can tell she was going to pander to the preservation crowd. I don't think she would be terrible, but I think we can do better. The hosts and the audience very clearly were not fans of Mayor Reed. They were asking a lot of candidates how they would do things differently than Reed. They especially pressed her. She wouldn't distance herself too much from Reed, they gave her opportunity to do and the crowd wanted it, but she didn't. I have more respect for her in that.
Mary Norwood did a terrible job. I feel bad for her because she had to arrive late, she didn't catch the vibe of the room. But she said a lot stuff in about the least politically appealing way possible. While others were focusing their campaigns on righting wrongs, she kept mentioning that she wanted to make sure everyone in Atlanta has fun. It was weird. I can tell she was tired. With that said, her answers just didn't impress me and I don't think she will be a unifying candidate.
Peter Aman said the F word, that was kind of fun. But then Michael made him apologize to the old ladies in the audience Very mixed feelings about him. I think in some ways he has a real good grasp of some issues, but overall he didn't really impress. Cathy Woolard on the other hand, very much impressed. She had very thoughtful answers and an impressive resume. I think she runs a bit farther left than I, but I definitely want to see more.
Vincent Fort impressed as well, I think he brings too much emotion to the table, but it's not misplaced. I respect him a lot more now. Mr. Eaves was ok. He talks a lot about criminal justice reform, which is very important, but I just think Fulton County's track record in this is abysmal. Maybe he couldn't fix it on it's own, unfairly or not, I'm holding it against him for now.
I couldn't stay much later as I wasn't feeling well and they were running behind. I wish I could have seen more. I WISH the moderators wouldn't have spent so much damn time talking before the candidates. Oh well. My mind was not made last night, but I think Kwanza Hall and Cathy Woolard are top of the bill for me for now. I'd like to hear more from the rest of the candidates as well.
I must note, I felt weird leaving the forum last night. It was highly racially charged. There was a noticeably cold reception to white candidates. The frequent theme of keeping Atlanta a black city... it just seems toxic. I get why Atlanta is a city black people are proud of. I'm extremely proud to be a part of a city that has helped uplift. But it's not the possession of any one race. I kept feeling strong anti-diversity undertones in much of what was said. This is ours, other people are coming to get it, and we must protect it. I might be misinterpreting, but that's the impression I walked away with.
I know I'll get my head ripped off for saying this, but if that was a forum hosted by a white people in front of a white audience, I would have walked out of there in protest and disgust. It was very reminiscent of the vibe I get from hearing interviews with white supremacy jerks. People that aren't us are taking what is ours and we have to make a stand. I get that Atlanta is a unique place and the desire to make sure it becomes an even better place for black people to thrive. I also understand (hope) that the desire to maintain this doesn't come out of hate. But I'm honestly not sure at this point. There wasn't talk of working together. There was fear of people not like themselves taking over. There was very little to nothing unifying in what I heard last night. Maybe the vibe changed as the night went on, but I doubt it.
Last night made me sad, it felt very regressive. We should be concerned about issues of race and fix what we can. But the desire for one race to dominate and maintain power, solely along racial lines, is wrong. At least that's how I see it. I'd love to see if someone else had a different take, I'd be happy to find out I was misinterpreting things last night.
Give more detail then just you had a "vibe', tell actually what was said that lead you to that conclusion. cause as up now your comment here appear to be base a lot on assuming, you assume they didn't like a candidate because they was white, assume they didn't like blank black candidate cause it's divide the black vote. You may be right I don't know but that's a lot to assume.
Speaking on black issues, This doesn't mean they would be again't a white candidate if that candidate help with issues facing the the black community, You probably also hear heck of a lot about gentrification. And that's my guess that you misinterpreted concern over gentrification.
And yeah I'm going to speak about that terrible white supremacy comparison...
blacks may represent a high percentage of the city but nationally blacks are a minority group. And their a income inequality gap by race as well as other challenges the community face. The community has forums to address these issues. Whites are the majority the country and very represented well in Government, business, media, and higher education..... there no need for such things.
Also racist group meeting actually talk about hateful stuff towards another group so no it's nothing like a white supremacy meeting.
"ONE Musicfest" is a urban music festivals prompter, it focus Heavy on black culture. it seem like you went to a forum that focus on issues concerning the black community............. then became shock that is on the black community. And this also explain Killer Mike an artist hosting.
Killa Mike was a dumb ass mainly focusing on race and not other important **** like the religious bill, transportation, Keith Parker leaving, Beltline, etc
Killa Mike was a dumb ass mainly focusing on race and not other important **** like the religious bill, transportation, Keith Parker leaving, Beltline, etc
I was disappointed that transportation was not addressed in depth. It's a huge issue and one that would help bridge the income inequality issue.
Just want to provide a (not so) little recap of the forum I mentioned above. Curious if anyone else went to it to see what their thoughts are.
If anyone thinks race isn't going to be the central issue in this campaign... think again. Let me preface the following comments: I really don't know how to think about what I heard last night. On one level, I get it. On another level, a lot of what I heard sounded...wrong. I try to empathize, I know it's not 100% possible, but I want to to give issues that maybe I can't understand a lot of leeway. It is very important to me that everyone is provided an equal chance and prior injustices that still have an affect to this day are remedied. But what I heard last night fell well outside that, IMO. So with that said...
The forum was started off by Michael (not going by Killer Mike that night ) letting everyone know that the forum was going to be laser focused on black issues. Ok, there wasn't mention of that in the invite, but I would like to hear what my fellow citizens are concerned about. There was then a lot of talk of preserving Atlanta as a black city. I would say this appeared to be the number one concern of the forum and the audience at large. Ill talk about that more later.
One of the first questions was to a very young candidate (sorry, can't remember your name) asking him, if his candidacy didn't look viable, would he drop out and who would he choose to support. There were a lot of cheers from the audience, I heard a couple of people yell something along the lines of "get out". They were clearly upset that he was splitting the black vote and wanted him to drop out to consolidate it. That just wrong IMO. Choice is a good thing. Lack of choice is why we have the pres we have now. It came across as bullying the guy.
There was a lot of talk of gentrification. I think Kwanza Hall rebutted the charges of sitting back on gentrification pretty well. He explained that while the black population of his district dropped something like 59% to 17%, a lot of that had to do with redrawing district lines and a increase in population. He claims there was no significant loss of black residents over that time. He mentioned some programs to help counter the negative effects of gentrification, not sure how useful they would be. He also made sure to mention he wanted to be a mayor for all of Atlanta and didn't seem to pander to the black preservation crowd.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was decent, better than I expected. But I can tell she was going to pander to the preservation crowd. I don't think she would be terrible, but I think we can do better. The hosts and the audience very clearly were not fans of Mayor Reed. They were asking a lot of candidates how they would do things differently than Reed. They especially pressed her. She wouldn't distance herself too much from Reed, they gave her opportunity to do and the crowd wanted it, but she didn't. I have more respect for her in that.
Mary Norwood did a terrible job. I feel bad for her because she had to arrive late, she didn't catch the vibe of the room. But she said a lot stuff in about the least politically appealing way possible. While others were focusing their campaigns on righting wrongs, she kept mentioning that she wanted to make sure everyone in Atlanta has fun. It was weird. I can tell she was tired. With that said, her answers just didn't impress me and I don't think she will be a unifying candidate.
Peter Aman said the F word, that was kind of fun. But then Michael made him apologize to the old ladies in the audience Very mixed feelings about him. I think in some ways he has a real good grasp of some issues, but overall he didn't really impress. Cathy Woolard on the other hand, very much impressed. She had very thoughtful answers and an impressive resume. I think she runs a bit farther left than I, but I definitely want to see more.
Vincent Fort impressed as well, I think he brings too much emotion to the table, but it's not misplaced. I respect him a lot more now. Mr. Eaves was ok. He talks a lot about criminal justice reform, which is very important, but I just think Fulton County's track record in this is abysmal. Maybe he couldn't fix it on it's own, unfairly or not, I'm holding it against him for now.
I couldn't stay much later as I wasn't feeling well and they were running behind. I wish I could have seen more. I WISH the moderators wouldn't have spent so much damn time talking before the candidates. Oh well. My mind was not made last night, but I think Kwanza Hall and Cathy Woolard are top of the bill for me for now. I'd like to hear more from the rest of the candidates as well.
I must note, I felt weird leaving the forum last night. It was highly racially charged. There was a noticeably cold reception to white candidates. The frequent theme of keeping Atlanta a black city... it just seems toxic. I get why Atlanta is a city black people are proud of. I'm extremely proud to be a part of a city that has helped uplift. But it's not the possession of any one race. I kept feeling strong anti-diversity undertones in much of what was said. This is ours, other people are coming to get it, and we must protect it. I might be misinterpreting, but that's the impression I walked away with.
I know I'll get my head ripped off for saying this, but if that was a forum hosted by a white people in front of a white audience, I would have walked out of there in protest and disgust. It was very reminiscent of the vibe I get from hearing interviews with white supremacy jerks. People that aren't us are taking what is ours and we have to make a stand. I get that Atlanta is a unique place and the desire to make sure it becomes an even better place for black people to thrive. I also understand (hope) that the desire to maintain this doesn't come out of hate. But I'm honestly not sure at this point. There wasn't talk of working together. There was fear of people not like themselves taking over. There was very little to nothing unifying in what I heard last night. Maybe the vibe changed as the night went on, but I doubt it.
Last night made me sad, it felt very regressive. We should be concerned about issues of race and fix what we can. But the desire for one race to dominate and maintain power, solely along racial lines, is wrong. At least that's how I see it. I'd love to see if someone else had a different take, I'd be happy to find out I was misinterpreting things last night.
neighbor was there and said the outright racist ideals and discussions left her sick. One thing I find odd is that there are plenty of other minorities in the city other than black people. What about them? Do they not matter? It seems this election is going to go down and pander to the most ignorant and lowest common denominator of Atlanta citizens that can't think for themselves which is sad. Also, it is apparent there are many in the black community who do not like or want the recent demographic shift in the city. Whites have proven they will vote for, endorse, and elect black candidates in Atlanta. It is time for the black community to prove they can do the same and not bring out the racist rhetoric and scare tactics and vote for the best possible candidate be they white, black, male, female, homosexual or straight not because the color of their skin.
Give more detail then just you had a "vibe', tell actually what was said that lead you to that conclusion. cause as up now your comment here appear to be base a lot on assuming, you assume they didn't like a candidate because they was white, assume they didn't like blank black candidate cause it's divide the black vote. You may be right I don't know but that's a lot to assume.
Speaking on black issues, This doesn't mean they would be again't a white candidate if that candidate help with issues facing the the black community, You probably also hear heck of a lot about gentrification. And that's my guess that you misinterpreted concern over gentrification.
And yeah I'm going to speak about that terrible white supremacy comparison...
blacks may represent a high percentage of the city but nationally blacks are a minority group. And their a income inequality gap by race as well as other challenges the community face. The community has forums to address these issues. Whites are the majority the country and very represented well in Government, business, media, and higher education..... there no need for such things.
Also racist group meeting actually talk about hateful stuff towards another group so no it's nothing like a white supremacy meeting.
"ONE Musicfest" is a urban music festivals prompter, it focus Heavy on black culture. it seem like you went to a forum that focus on issues concerning the black community............. then became shock that is on the black community. And this also explain Killer Mike an artist hosting.
A better question is what have the black mayors of the city done the last 43 some odd years for black citizens? Reading your post you would think Atlanta is Apartheid South Africa. Why didn't the black mayors fix the issues in the black community that you are talking about? Your post makes no sense and is trying to blame a system that white people haven't been involved in for almost 5 decades. For decades Atlanta has had black people in charge but you are saying white people are the cause of blacks having income inequality in Atlanta?
Location: Vinings/Cumberland in the evil county of Cobb
1,317 posts, read 1,631,794 times
Reputation: 1551
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronricks
neighbor was there and said the outright racist ideals and discussions left her sick. One thing I find odd is that there are plenty of other minorities in the city other than black people. What about them? Do they not matter? It seems this election is going to go down and pander to the most ignorant and lowest common denominator of Atlanta citizens that can't think for themselves which is sad. Also, it is apparent there are many in the black community who do not like or want the recent demographic shift in the city. Whites have proven they will vote for, endorse, and elect black candidates in Atlanta. It is time for the black community to prove they can do the same and not bring out the racist rhetoric and scare tactics and vote for the best possible candidate be they white, black, male, female, homosexual or straight not because the color of their skin.
Personally as a black man I realize that a black mayor means nothing, real power is in who controls the money (banks) and who owns the land. Political figureheads without equity is just a farce. I could care less about the ethnicity of Atlanta's next mayor, as long as they are committed to continued growth and serving "all" the people of the city.
FWIW...I would like to say going back 240 years black folks have also proven that we will vote for, endorse and elect white candidates but then I remembered we weren't given the right to vote until 50 years ago...nevermind.
FWIW...I would like to say going back 240 years black folks have also proven that we will vote for, endorse and elect white candidates but then I remembered we weren't given the right to vote until 50 years ago...nevermind.
Amen.
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) letting everyone know that the forum was going to be laser focused on black issues. Ok, there wasn't mention of that in the invite, but I would like to hear what my fellow citizens are concerned about. There was then a lot of talk of preserving Atlanta as a black city. I would say this appeared to be the number one concern of the forum and the audience at large. Ill talk about that more later. 
