Would "progressive" Atlanta ever elect a non-black mayor? (high school, to live)

[Java378]

Of course, "progressive" Georgia elected Nathan Deal, did they not?

[BringBackCobain]

Tick, tock... tick, tock... tick, tock...

The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up go down. ~Jawaharlal Nehru

And so it goes with Atlanta. We are living in a very interesting era. Mayor Reed may well be in the same position as Mayor Sam Massell was in some 40 years ago. Mayor Massell, the most recent white mayor of Atlanta, lost to his black vice mayor, Maynard Jackson. During Massell's term, which ran from 1969 to 1973, Atlanta transitioned from majority white to majority black.

While Atlanta is likely to still be majority black by 2013 (at the current pace of demographic change, blacks will likely make up 51% of Atlanta's population in 2013), the parallels between 1973 and the present are fascinating. Check out this excerpt from a 1973 AJC editorial leading up to the election:

The truth is, Atlanta has changed. It is no longer majority-white. And the city's new residents want the mayor to reflect that change. Sam Massell represents an Atlanta that vanished during his term...

...The new Atlanta is going to put in place a new political landscape, and it will begin with the election of a new mayor. It is the natural order of democracy for the politics of a government to mirror the demographics of within its jurisdiction. Political change may, and usually does, lag behind the demographic change; but while delayed it may be, preventable it is not.

From Wikipedia:

The city of Atlanta is seeing a unique and drastic demographic increase in its white population, and at a pace that outstrips the rest of the nation. The proportion of whites in the city's population, according to Brookings Institution, grew faster between 2000 and 2006 than that of any other U.S. city. By 2010, Atlanta's white population had increased by 22,763 people. The white percentage increased from 31% in 2000, to 35% in 2006, to 38% in 2010, more than double the increase between 1990 and 2000. During the same time, the city's black poulation decreased by 28,795 people, shrinking from 61.4% of the city's population in 2000 to 54.0% in 2010. The demographic changes are due to an influx of whites into gentrifying intown neighborhoods, such as East Atlanta and the Old Fourth Ward, coupled with a movement of blacks into adjacent suburbs, such as Clayton County.

Tick, tock... tick, tock... tick, tock...

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Java378

Of course, "progressive" Georgia elected Nathan Deal, did they not?

Georgia isn't what I would consider a "progressive" state, so I don't get your point...?

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by Java378

Of course, "progressive" Georgia elected Nathan Deal, did they not?

Do you not know that there is a difference between the politics of "Georgia" and "Atlanta". Totally different things at play.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

Tick, tock... tick, tock... tick, tock...

And so it goes with Atlanta. We are living in a very interesting era. Mayor Reed may well be in the same position as Mayor Sam Massell was in some 40 years ago. Mayor Massell, the most recent white mayor of Atlanta, lost to his black vice mayor, Maynard Jackson. During Massell's term, which ran from 1969 to 1973, Atlanta transitioned from majority white to majority black.

While Atlanta is likely to still be majority black by 2013 (at the current pace of demographic change, blacks will likely make up 51% of Atlanta's population in 2013), the parallels between 1973 and the present are fascinating. Check out this excerpt from a 1973 AJC editorial leading up to the election:

From Wikipedia:

Tick, tock... tick, tock... tick, tock...

LOL, dont stay up late waiting for that clock to ring like you think it would. Even if the city becomes majority white (not likely), the majority of those white folks will be gay and liberal. Who do you think they will vote for? LMAO

Just move back to Sandy Springs or whatever suburb it is you came from already. You'll be happier.

[BringBackCobain]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

LOL, dont stay up late waiting for that clock to ring like you think it would.

The clock is for the end of the political machine, which seems ever more likely to occur in 2013.

Even if the city becomes majority white (not likely)

No, it likely won't be majority white, and I never said or implied it would. However, it is extremely likely that it won't be majority black. In fact, I would say it is only a matter of time before Atlanta has no majority race.

, the majority of those white folks will be gay and liberal. Who do you think they will vote for?

Uh, not Mayor Reed. Someone as pro-gay as you should know that Mayor Reed does not support gay marriage. This is opposed to the pro-gay marriage Kathy Ashe, a state senate Democrat who is rumored to be running. Oh yeah, did I mention she is white?

So really, I should be asking you, who do you think those gay and/or liberal whites will vote for?

LMAO

As I have told you before, putting this at the end of an argument does not make it correct or detract from the person's comment you are laughing at. It only makes you look immature, and in some cases, ignorant.

Just move back to Sandy Springs or whatever suburb it is you came from already. You'll be happier.

Actually, I am quite happy with the way things are going in Atlanta. It is truly an exciting time to be living in the city, just as it was for my black counterparts in the 1970s. Atlanta is finally moving into a post-racial demographic era, joining other cities with no majority, like LA, NYC, and Chicago. Once the political machine is dismantled, and race-pandering rendered useless, then we will really see the potential of this city unleashed.

[arjay57]

Would "progressive" Atlanta ever elect a non-black mayor?

The answer to this question is an obvious yes. The city came within a few hundred votes of doing so about 19 months ago.

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by WilliamM

I hear you, but you have to understand, we're just now coming out (apparently) of a long period in which we began to exercise much greater vigilance with regard to the way that access to positions of power was dominated by the the privileges of a few groups, at the expense of others. As I said, just a half century ago you had to be pretty much of a certain class and group to be elected to most positions of power in this country (and that was the case no matter where you were, South, North, East, West, which we tend to forget when we look at liberal bastions like NYC and San Fran today). So it's understandable that even now the changes are going to be fitful and fraught with lots of kicking and screaming, just as the ones that got us to where we are now were. It's just in the nature of these things. But there's every reason to assume that generational and demographic changes are going to give us a picture in another 10-15 yrs that will be strikingly different in many ways than what our parents took for granted - just as we're already seeing huge changes from just a decade or 15 yrs ago. This is going to continue. Atlanta is only arriving at a tipping point in these matters now, but the next big wave of change has only just started.

I kinda see what you mean. I think "progressive" is both the right word & wrong word. Its just the type of voter Atlanta is not mentally progressive & wont vote on issues like economics, crime & education....lack of metro unity is also a major illness that the metro suffers from.

[AcidSnake]

This thread is so friggin' dumb, I can't stand it already.

Atlanta has had white (oops, "non-black") mayors for 127 years. Also, no one told white folks to "white-flight" the heck outta Dodge in the first place. I know my childhood neighborhood in South Dekalb was mostly white when my parents moved in in 1977. No one made them(white folks) leave, that's for sure. I've had white childhood friends who disappeared on me by the 5th grade and it was only after high school when I slowly realized why.

Black folks reached across the aisle first with the hand of friendship. It was white folks who by large slapped it away, and decided to restyled themselves as "conservative" Republicans and started this political stonewalling mess every step of the way. Nevermind the truth that these "conservatives" ate just as much at the government pig trough as anyone else, especially during the 1930s depression. "Less goverment" advocates indeed...

I'm tired of this southern strategy that tries to act as if black folks by large are the unprogressive ones who refuse to be part of the coalition. Heck, MLK Jr. AND Malcolm X were assassinated for trying to create a racial coalition for pete sakes!!! Name me an equivalent white civil rights activist that has given that sort of blood.

God, this stuff never ends, does it?

[AcidSnake]

So when do we dismantle the political machine at the Capitol? Can we end the race-pandering there as well?

Even former Atlanta mayor Sam Massell had problems getting getting his pet projects greenlighted by the rural dominated state leadership.

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

Actually, I am quite happy with the way things are going in Atlanta. It is truly an exciting time to be living in the city, just as it was for my black counterparts in the 1970s. Atlanta is finally moving into a post-racial demographic era, joining other cities with no majority, like LA, NYC, and Chicago. Once the political machine is dismantled, and race-pandering rendered useless, then we will really see the potential of this city unleashed.