How long will it be until Georgia elects its first Black Governor (Savannah: living, dangerous)

[Newsboy]

^^^ It was FORSYTH COUNTY not FULTON COUNTY! Huge difference. And it was 25 years ago -- even HUGER difference. Forsyth County is not the same place. Georgia is not the same place. Oprah? She's the same place.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

Not that long ago, I watched a rerun of a show that Oprah did about Fulton county, people stood up and talked about how they didn't want black people living in the county. Admittedly this was some years back, I was shocked at the brazen racism, no shame...It made me despair for the state of our country and its stubborn hold on racism.

It was Forsyth County, not Fulton County.

Forsyth County is north of Fulton County.


The show aired in 1987 (maybe 1988).

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

^^^ It was FORSYTH COUNTY not FULTON COUNTY! Huge difference. And it was 25 years ago -- even HUGER difference. Forsyth County is not the same place. Georgia is not the same place. Oprah? She's the same place.

Sorry. Posted before I saw your post.

[brettk]

It depends who the black candidate is. If it's a liberal- not any time soon. For the same reason we won't have a white liberal governor.

You can bring up race all you want, but it's about ideology and GA is a conservative state and votes that way.

[Mike01yz]

clearly race does matter, very much to many Georgians, if we look at all the Georgia governors so far. i find the why-does-race-matter reply disingenuous.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Mike01yz

i find the why-does-race-matter reply disingenuous.

The fact that race matters (to both white and black), may be reality, but the fact is that it should NOT matter, and the goal we should all have is to elect people regardless of their skin color, hair color, height, gender, weight, etc. Those attribute mean nothing. What means something are their views on the issues and their plans. It's not disingenuous to strive for and advocate for elections where race is not an issue. Same for any other of the attributes I mentioned.

I would actually say that some blacks voted for Obama for no other reason than the fact that he is mixed race. Sure, some whites may have voted against him for the same reason, and both are just as wrong. How many of those people had no idea about the man's platform?

I stand by MLK: "content of character...not color of skin"

[Tdiddy0027]

No, here's what upsets me about a lot of the conservative types in Georgia. They preach acceptance and racial equality like they're getting paid for it, but I feel it's disingenuous. It's like, "I don't care about your race at all as long as you stop being so darn liberal and ignore African American history, forget about the disadvantages your race has had to face and still faces, and buy into the libertarian philosophy of an a free market and a level playing field." It's easy to not care about race when people of a different race have completely bought into your way of thinking and don't question it. It smacks of the same argument that people like Lester Maddox made in the 60s, "I don't hate black people but integration will hurt all races and most blacks like it."

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Tdiddy0027

No, here's what upsets me about a lot of the conservative types in Georgia. They preach acceptance and racial equality like they're getting paid for it, but I feel it's disingenuous. It's like, "I don't care about your race at all as long as you stop being so darn liberal and ignore African American history, forget about the disadvantages your race has had to face and still faces, and buy into the libertarian philosophy of an a free market and a level playing field." It's easy to not care about race when people of a different race have completely bought into your way of thinking and don't question it. It smacks of the same argument that people like Lester Maddox made in the 60s, "I don't hate black people but integration will hurt all races and most blacks like it."

If you're referring to me, I was born and raised in NYC, and lived in New England for 15 years. You have no right to preach to anyone or to assume that people don't believe what they are saying. Judge people by their actions, but don't be insulting and presume that you know better what people are thinking than they do.

To be honest, I have seen less overt racism in Georgia than in some parts of the so-called liberal northeast. What I will say is that because I judge people by their actions, I will call out minorities on bad policy or thinking that makes no sense, just as well as whites. If that is presumed to be racism, then the people doing the presuming need a check.

[Steelers10]

Originally Posted by neil0311

The fact that race matters (to both white and black), may be reality, but the fact is that it should NOT matter, and the goal we should all have is to elect people regardless of their skin color, hair color, height, gender, weight, etc. Those attribute mean nothing. What means something are their views on the issues and their plans. It's not disingenuous to strive for and advocate for elections where race is not an issue. Same for any other of the attributes I mentioned.

I would actually say that some blacks voted for Obama for no other reason than the fact that he is mixed race. Sure, some whites may have voted against him for the same reason, and both are just as wrong. How many of those people had no idea about the man's platform?

I stand by MLK: "content of character...not color of skin"

The blacks "voted for Obama because he is black" is always a hilarious comment. There is a funny line from Bill Maher about how conservatives can identify racism but it is ALWAYS reverse racism. A conservative is quick to decry that white racism still exists but can quickly come up with multiple examples of how black racism against whites always occurs. This is nothing new. I don't want to attribute the comment to George Wallace but there was a statement made that the blacks in Birmingham dynamited the church themselves in 1963 just to attract attention. I don't even try to change the minds of individuals like this because the rationale comes off as the sick, twisted, the "rape victim was asking for it because of her slutty clothes" type thinking.

But don't let actual facts get in the way. Fully 96% of Blacks voted for Obama versus 95% for Gore and 93% for Kerry. But of course this 1 to 3% differential is all because Obama is black! Nevermind that McCain was defeated by Bush in the 2000 primaries and McCain was an even less compelling candidate than Bush. Nevermind the increase in black margin voting Democratic in 2008 was not the deciding factor in the election (every demographic save old white males voted in higher numbers for the Democratic candidate). And never mind that Eisenhower got 39% of the black vote in 1956 and Nixon got 32% of the black vote in 1960. But the Republicans consistently trot out less and less qualified presidential candidates as time goes on and ask why blacks overwhelmingly vote democratic on based on race despite every democratic primary winner until 2008 being white. And if you claim Reagan was in any way shape or form the president Eisenhower was, I'll throw up in my mouth.

But let's take what we do know about Georgia. Georgia is the state that voted Lester Maddox, a chicken restaurant owner with a GED and no prior political experience (except for a couple of laughable mayoral defeats to William B. Hartsfield) as the Governor in 1966. His platform: "I will never let blacks in my restaurant and I'll do the same for the rest of Georgia!". This guy actually ran for President of the United States as a segregationist in 1976. Gee, you think he got elected because of his race?

So to answer the question, "when will Georgia elect a black governor?" The short answer is when the last Georgian who voted a high school dropout chicken shack owner governor dies of old age. And just think, Thurbert Baker who was a Georgia State Representative for eight years and the state Attorney General for 13 1/2 years was not considered "qualified" enough for Georgia voters. Maybe the owner of J.J.s Rib Shack will be elected the first black governor!

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Steelers10

The blacks "voted for Obama because he is black" is always a hilarious comment.

If you're going to quote, then quote accurately and completely. I said that SOME blacks voted for him because he is MIXED RACE. If you notice, I also mention that some whites voted against him for the same reason. Both statements are true, whether or not you want to acknowledge the truth.