Is Forsyth County bad for minorities? (Atlanta, Montgomery: transfer, living, legally)

[Jacob09]

i have lived in Forsyth County my whole life, attended Forsyth Central and South Forsyth High Schools. The "racism" in the schools is mostly toward the hispanics at Central due to the rapidly growing population of mexicans in Cumming. As for South there was no "racism" that i am aware of. The students have heard all the stories of the KKK and even enjoy going to Booger Mountain for the thrill of being in a "haunted" area. i have witnessed a Klan meeting at Mr. Swiss by Movies 400 and it was just a few old guys sitting at a table talking about politics and hate crimes and enjoying a hot breakfast. as for hate crimes actually occuring...there arent any, Forsyth County and Cumming is a great place to live. it is kinda boring for the students there because of a lack of things to do...thats why we get in trouble off-roading and camoing out so often, but hey...were just kids right. the area is a great place to raise a family, safe and humane. i can probably answer any questions you may have about the rumors and stories of the county. please e-mail me with questions at jacob.alan.brown@gmail.com

[Midtownatl]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Forsyth gained recognition a number of years ago because a very radical activist named Hosea Williams played the "cry wolf" thing and organized a march in that area where several hundred black people did a 1960s style march against racism.

Putting aside the characterization of the late Hosea Williams as "radical," your facts are off. In the late 1980's, Williams protested, among other things, a violent attack against white residents who supported the MLK holiday. 20,000 folks-- many of whom were black-- protested the attack and many Forsyth residents' calculated efforts to remain all-white. (In 1987, there were NO black people residing in all of Forsyth County, a county which literally borders Fulton. It would be wilfully ignorant to believe this was coincidental).
5,000 counterprotesters also showed up (far more than "eight").
Independent Lens . BANISHED . Forsyth County, Georgia | PBS

Forsyth has changed a lot in the last 20 years. It's 94% white instead of 100% white. And outward hostility toward minorities has gone dormant. But it is offensive to ignore the county's tortured past. I believe that denying gross bigotry from the past is a cruel cruel act.

[iudiehard]

I wonder what the response would be if I asked the following question. Is the city of Atlanta bad for whites?

[ArepasandGravy]

There is clearly a lot of misinformation going around about what exactly happened in Forsyth County back in 1919. For a detailed account that cites actual historical sources, pick up a copy of Buried in the Bitter Waters: A History of Racial Cleansing in America. Reporter Eliot Jaspin researched a number of incidents similar to the one in 1919 in Forsyth County. He even goes into detail about how the AJC did not want him to publish his findings about the incident so he had to end up publishing them in the AJC's sister paper, the Austin American Statesman. Whether or not Forsyth County is "bad for minorities" today is subjective, but this book recounts the actual historical facts surrounding Forsyth's history.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by Jacob09

i have lived in Forsyth County my whole life, attended Forsyth Central and South Forsyth High Schools. The "racism" in the schools is mostly toward the hispanics at Central due to the rapidly growing population of mexicans in Cumming. As for South there was no "racism" that i am aware of. The students have heard all the stories of the KKK and even enjoy going to Booger Mountain for the thrill of being in a "haunted" area. i have witnessed a Klan meeting at Mr. Swiss by Movies 400 and it was just a few old guys sitting at a table talking about politics and hate crimes and enjoying a hot breakfast. as for hate crimes actually occuring...there arent any, Forsyth County and Cumming is a great place to live. it is kinda boring for the students there because of a lack of things to do...thats why we get in trouble off-roading and camoing out so often, but hey...were just kids right. the area is a great place to raise a family, safe and humane. i can probably answer any questions you may have about the rumors and stories of the county. please e-mail me with questions at jacob.alan.brown@gmail.com

There probably aren't any hate crimes there because over 90% of the county is white. I guarantee you if there was an influx of black people, and i'm not talking about wealthy black people, to move into Forsyth the hate crimes would go up. I'm guessing the majority of the blacks in Forsyth are fairly well off. Am I right ?

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by Midtownatl

Putting aside the characterization of the late Hosea Williams as "radical," your facts are off. In the late 1980's, Williams protested, among other things, a violent attack against white residents who supported the MLK holiday. 20,000 folks-- many of whom were black-- protested the attack and many Forsyth residents' calculated efforts to remain all-white. (In 1987, there were NO black people residing in all of Forsyth County, a county which literally borders Fulton. It would be wilfully ignorant to believe this was coincidental).
5,000 counterprotesters also showed up (far more than "eight").
Independent Lens . BANISHED . Forsyth County, Georgia | PBS

Forsyth has changed a lot in the last 20 years. It's 94% white instead of 100% white. And outward hostility toward minorities has gone dormant. But it is offensive to ignore the county's tortured past. I believe that denying gross bigotry from the past is a cruel cruel act.

Wow, only 94% white ? Sounds very diverse. And I'm guessing the majority of the 6% that isn't white is hispanic right ? I get the feeling there are more hispanics than blacks in Forsyth, which is very unusual in the deep south. Now in Texas, that would be common, but in GA that is very unusual.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by Midtownatl

Forsyth has changed a lot in the last 20 years. It's 94% white instead of 100% white. And outward hostility toward minorities has gone dormant. But it is offensive to ignore the county's tortured past. I believe that denying gross bigotry from the past is a cruel cruel act.

No one is saying that it should be ignored or denied, but why must it continually be drug out of the closet? Why do the people who currently live in Forsyth County, most of whom didn't live there and had nothing to do with what happened in the 80's, have to be brought into it? Let it go.....

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Midtownatl

Putting aside the characterization of the late Hosea Williams as "radical," your facts are off. In the late 1980's, Williams protested, among other things, a violent attack against white residents who supported the MLK holiday. 20,000 folks-- many of whom were black-- protested the attack and many Forsyth residents' calculated efforts to remain all-white. (In 1987, there were NO black people residing in all of Forsyth County, a county which literally borders Fulton. It would be wilfully ignorant to believe this was coincidental).
5,000 counterprotesters also showed up (far more than "eight").
Independent Lens . BANISHED . Forsyth County, Georgia | PBS

Forsyth has changed a lot in the last 20 years. It's 94% white instead of 100% white. And outward hostility toward minorities has gone dormant. But it is offensive to ignore the county's tortured past. I believe that denying gross bigotry from the past is a cruel cruel act.

I agree 100%, but I won't be so forgiving for the mischaracterization of Hosea Williams.

A few facts on the "radical" Hosea Williams:

Hosea Williams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

-A World War II vet who fought in an all black unit in Pattons army, receiving the Purple Heart

-Joined the Civil Rights movement after being beaten for drinking from a whites only water fountain

-Was one of the original founders of the SCLC which consisted of such radicals as Martin Luther King, Andrew Young and Joseph Lowery

-During the first March on Selma, he was at the head of the pack and was beaten unconscious

-After the "Civil Rights Era", he served on the Atlanta City Council and as a representative in the Georgia General Assembly

-In his most enduring legacy, he created the Hosea Williams Feed the Hungry and Homeless foundation that feeds thousands upon thousands of poor and homeless Atlantans four times a year as well as providing support services to that segment of the community.

I think you need to redefine what you believe a radical to be Greg, and quite frankly, it is a shame that you would even stoop to calling someone of such stature as Hosea Williams a "radical".

[waronxmas]

To the OP:

I don't think you will have much to worry about living in Forsyth County in 2010.

It's a much different place now than i was 20 years ago I'm sure though I wouldn't know personally.

[davesm]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Why do the people who currently live in Forsyth County, most of whom didn't live there and had nothing to do with what happened in the 80's, have to be brought into it? Let it go.....

Excerpt from Independent Lens

Adverse Possession

Building on this evidence, Cox Newspapers reporter Elliot Jaspin was inspired to trace land deeds and tax rolls back to 1912. He found further proof that the majority of the property owned by the banished African Americans was never sold, but instead taken by their white neighbors. Called adverse possession, this process is partly statutory and partly common law, and involves the legal acquisition of a title to a property without having to pay for it. In the case of the land in Forsyth County, white residents simply held the property belonging to black residents following their banishment. In the state of Georgia, the period of adverse possession is seven years. After this period of time, whites legally owned the land.

White title attorneys such as Phil Bettis plead ignorance regarding the appropriation of black-owned land, but some descendants of these black families have declared that the property is rightfully theirs. With missing title transfers and deeds of sale between former black residents and current white property owners are often missing; therefore, returning the land in Forsyth County to the descendants of its rightful owners remains a controversial and legal challenge.


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I remember hearing something a few years ago about this, and how some of the families were taking legal steps to get their land back or some sort of settlement. They found that some of the families' former properties had expensive subdivisions on them.

I'm sure we all agree that this was a tragic situation, but it will be interesting to see how or even if the families will get some form of justice.