A Theory About Atlanta (live in, title, area)

[WilliamM]

Sorry for off topic post. There used to be a feature for an email update when a thread is updated. It's no where to be found. Does anybody know if it exists and if so where it's found?

[coolyfett]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Oh, my good brother Saintmarks...thank you for bringing the issue up. It should almost start a separate thread. I think one of the main issues that many non-AAs have with Atlanta is not the AfAms themselves per se, but the large number of AfAms in Atlanta (all over the metro area, all class levels)..."a major, prosperous world/international city with a large, un-contained black population...what is this???"

You find this sentiment in a lot of code-language (on and off this forum) with things like, "I wish Atlanta was more diverse..."; "Atlanta needs to be more like LA, NY, etc with more {insert ethnic group here}..."

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by aries4118

I think one of the main issues that many non-AAs have with Atlanta is not the AfAms themselves per se, but the large number of AfAms in Atlanta (all over the metro area, all class levels)..."a major, prosperous world/international city with a large, un-contained black population...what is this???"

You find this sentiment in a lot of code-language (on and off this forum) with things like, "I wish Atlanta was more diverse..."; "Atlanta needs to be more like LA, NY, etc with more {insert ethnic group here}..."

Atlanta's distinguishing feature on the world/international city arena (along with the trees/forest, being the American South metropolis) is its large and influential black population.

People...let Atlanta be Atlanta. Our energies need to be how to help the "powers that be" acknowledge, nurture, promote, and strengthen Atlanta's unique assets (and they are a legion!)...not try to make Atlanta "not Atlanta" with things like Atlanta needs "water" (um?), a "Little Italy" (what?), etc...

This is a really important point. Maybe it should be a separate thread!

Anyway, it's exactly right. There's a real tendency to look down on Atlanta as not being a real international city because it's not "diverse" enough, which is ironic considering that Atlanta is the cradle of the Civil Rights movement and gave the world the person (many Americans would be shocked of this) who I'm convinced would win hands down in a world survey of the most significant and important American to have lived during the 20th C (and maybe ever).

As for the accuracy of the claim itself of Atlanta being a non-diverse and "just a black/white city", it gets back to the issue I'm constantly harping about on this forum: the fact that Atlanta is a non-traditional or non-'organic' city if you will, a city that is automatically suspect to the city snobs for all the same reasons that LA has traditionally been denigrated. In fact, in the last 20 yrs or so one could argue that Atlanta is gradually replacing LA in the popular American imagination as the city the city snobs love to hate, perhaps because LA itself no longer fits the descriptions that are commonly cited as shortcomings (e.g., lack of density, lack of ethnic diversity, not 'gritty' enough) and gradually our image of LA has been transformed in the popular culture (think of Guns and Roses' 'Welcome to the Jungle' or the film 'Falling Down') so that now we typically are at least as likely to think of LA as an urban dystopia as we are to think of it in its traditional image as a sunny paradise (no longer the white surfer boy image of a place to escape from urban ills typified by the Beach Boys for ex.).

And there's some truth to the claim of course. The Hispanic population inside the Atlanta city limits still remains below the national average (if I'm not mistaken) and far below that of the region as a whole. So there is something to the claim. But this overlooks the fact that at the same time Atlanta has pockets that are easily as diverse as anything you'll find in LA county, CA. But many observers - and visitors - of Atlanta may never even see these parts, or even if they do, discount them because they're not technically inside Atlanta proper. So ultimately a confusion arises over what exactly we mean when we say "Atlanta", and that is a big part of the problem.

Anyway, there are at least a couple of levels of this discussion which are interesting. I could go on, but I'll stop rambling here.

[DPAT]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

I wasn't looking for photos of people...I was trying to give an idea as to how the place looks. There were photos with more people in them, but that wasn't the point I was trying to convey. (Why do people always say something like "Where are all the people in the photos?" Most photographers are not out there taking photos of strangers on the street, but of interesting places and things!)

Underground is doing fine...it is not failing. It had some big financial losses back in the mid-late 90s, but currently it's a profitable development. There are enough people visiting Underground for those merchants to turn a profit...once again - thousands of students, tons of tourists, downtown employees and residents, etc.

I really don't know if I would call it thriving, but my earlier post was in response to Underground being labled as "failed" when it obviously isn't. It doesn't really offer anything appealing for me, but you can't say that it isn't successful after 19 years in operation and turning a profit...

I think the point is that for what Underground is supposed to be, one should not be able to take pictures of it in the middle of the day with no people in the photos. I attented GSU for undergrad and stayed on campus the entire time and never... and I do mean NEVER do I ever remember any students saying "hey, lets go to the Underground"... save to get something to eat, and even then not really. In fact, I'd venture to say that if you stopped a random GSU student on campus and asked them to name 5 venues in the Underground (aside from the clubs) they would be hard pressed to do so. But I'll stop now before people begin to think I am agreeing with Blondandfun's accusation that Atlanta is a failed city... because that I DO NOT agree with.

[blondandfun]

MLK was born and raised here, but he wasn't here for most of his active adult life.

And I don't see how Atlanta was the cradle of the civil rights movement, there were many more significant historical events in Alabama than Georgia.

This is just another sad attempt of Atlanta is trying to be the "capitol of the south", but nobody outside Atlanta agrees with that title, in fact I/we all find it offensive that the armpit of the south is trying to stake such a claim.

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

MLK was born and raised here, but he wasn't here for most of his active adult life.

And I don't see how Atlanta was the cradle of the civil rights movement, there were many more significant historical events in Alabama than Georgia.

This is just another sad attempt of Atlanta is trying to be the "capitol of the south", but nobody outside Atlanta agrees with that title, in fact I find it offensive.

I should have known I'd get a challenge from you. Good morning!

Doesn't matter. It's about the symbolism. Of course King didn't do much of his work here. Atlanta was frankly a minor city then (little more significant than Birmingham or Little Rock). Anyway the real work to be done was out in the 'provinces', the Southern towns, which is where most of the marches were. Point is, this was his hometown and became the base for the institutional legacy he left behind.

Nobody outside believes Atlanta is the capital of the South? Oh I disagree. I would say it's primarily outside the South that you find this impression (there remain many many people inside the South who detest Atlanta as just another NYC and reject it as a capital. Besides, Southerners aren't big on capitals in general, or centralized authorities that are far removed, haven't you noticed?).

[blondandfun]

Originally Posted by WilliamM

Nobody outside believes Atlanta is the capital of the South? Oh I disagree. I would say it's primarily outside the South that you find this impression

That's part of what pisses me off about Atlanta being that I grew up in the south in a medium sized city. I detest at the looking at statistics/numbers related to diversity, income, corporations, etc.. in rating any city.

I look purely at the physical characteristics of the city and culture and how people interact.

Just because there's a big pocket of Asians on buford HWY that stick together and don't attempt to adjust to our culture doesn't mean squat to me.. If that's what It takes to be "international" city, then...

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

MLK was born and raised here, but he wasn't here for most of his active adult life.

And I don't see how Atlanta was the cradle of the civil rights movement, there were many more significant historical events in Alabama than Georgia.

This is just another sad attempt of Atlanta is trying to be the "capitol of the south", but nobody outside Atlanta agrees with that title, in fact I/we all find it offensive that the armpit of the south is trying to stake such a claim.

You have absolutely no idea........the Civil Rights movement was planned and coordinated from here. Look it up if you don't believe it.

This is also the ONLY major city in the country that didn't explode into riots after MLK was killed. Why do you suppose that was? The only Southern politician of any color to testify before Congress in favor of passing the Civil Rights Act was anglo Mayor Hartsfield of Atlanta. How do you explain that?

And sorry, but Atlanta is THE undisputed capitol of the South. Any well-traveled business person knows this. Check out the thread on the U.S. forum titled "Capitol of the South," and see what the rest of the coutry says.

[blondandfun]

Originally Posted by johnatl

And sorry, but Atlanta is THE undisputed capitol of the South. Any well-traveled business person knows this. Check out the thread on the U.S. forum titled "Capitol of the South," and see what the rest of the coutry says.

Atlanta has distorted the rest of the country's view of the South. Read my previous post.

Everything isn't all about numbers/statistics in rating a city.

[johnatl]

In your opinion only. And your opinion means squat after trashing endless threads with your drivel.