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I usually agree with your posts, but I'm gong to take issue with this.
If you stick to the triangle between I-75 and I-85, you don't just start seeing Confederate flags when you venture outside I-285. You have to go REALLY far outside of it, I would say at least 20 miles, before you're going to see your first stars and bars. This may not be true other directions outside I-285, but on the educated north side, things were de-redencked back in the 70s and 80s, and you've got to travel a distance to find it.
Having said that, I know Forsyth county was horribly racist really not very long ago, and today you won't see a Confederate flag in most parts of South Forsyth (I've never seen one).
Growing up in Alabama, I accepted the Confederate flag as going with the territory of living in the South. Now I see it as a literal red flag that marks an area I wouldn't want to live.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but Georgia never stop flying a Confederate Flag, still Fly's above our State Capital right now.. Not stars and bars anymore but still Confederate Flag.. Research it!
I usually agree with your posts, but I'm gong to take issue with this.
If you stick to the triangle between I-75 and I-85, you don't just start seeing Confederate flags when you venture outside I-285. You have to go REALLY far outside of it, I would say at least 20 miles, before you're going to see your first stars and bars. This may not be true other directions outside I-285, but on the educated north side, things were de-redencked back in the 70s and 80s, and you've got to travel a distance to find it.
Having said that, I know Forsyth county was horribly racist really not very long ago, and today you won't see a Confederate flag in most parts of South Forsyth (I've never seen one).
Growing up in Alabama, I accepted the Confederate flag as going with the territory of living in the South. Now I see it as a literal red flag that marks an area I wouldn't want to live.
I agree with this.. There would be shoot outs if they started flying them in Riverdale XD... j/k
But yeah, South of Fayetteville at the minimum.
I usually agree with your posts, but I'm gong to take issue with this.
If you stick to the triangle between I-75 and I-85, you don't just start seeing Confederate flags when you venture outside I-285. You have to go REALLY far outside of it, I would say at least 20 miles, before you're going to see your first stars and bars. This may not be true other directions outside I-285, but on the educated north side, things were de-redencked back in the 70s and 80s, and you've got to travel a distance to find it.
Having said that, I know Forsyth county was horribly racist really not very long ago, and today you won't see a Confederate flag in most parts of South Forsyth (I've never seen one).
Growing up in Alabama, I accepted the Confederate flag as going with the territory of living in the South. Now I see it as a literal red flag that marks an area I wouldn't want to live.
That is a good point that one likely will see very few, if any, Confederate battle flags and emblems north of I-285 in the triangle-like area between I-75 Northwest and I-85 Northeast until one gets really far away from the Perimeter.
Though, when I referred to traveling in Georgia and the Southeast outside of the I-285 Perimeter, I was not just referring to traveling in an area like the triangle between I-75 NW and I-85 NE, I was referring to all of Georgia and much of the Southeast outside of the I-285 Perimeter.
You make a great point that the high educational attainment of the population of the triangle-like area of the Northern Crescent between I-75 NW and I-85 NE is most likely one of the reasons why one sees very few, if any, Confederate battle flags and emblems in that area north of Atlanta and north of the I-285 Perimeter.
Though, as you also acknowledged in your statement, the lack of Confederate flag displays in that area and other parts of the Atlanta metro area was not always the case.
When I drove a route in Newton County in far outer-suburban east metro Atlanta back in the early 2000's, I used to see (and even had to provide customer service to) quite a few homes where the Confederate battle flag was proudly displayed (...this was about the time of the intense debate over taking the Confederate battle emblem off of the Georgia state flag). Newton County has since become a 'majority-minority' county where racial and ethnic minorities make up more than 52% of the county's population, so along with that continuing demographic change and the overall change of society's perception of Confederate memorabilia, one sees fewer displays of the Confederate battle flag in an outlying OTP area like Newton County.
There is also a property in Smyrna at the northwest corner of Atlanta Road and Cumberland Parkway (I think that it was some kind of bank) where the owners of the property used to fly the old 1956-2001 Georgia state flag with the Confederate battle emblem on it up until only a couple of years ago.
And even though one may still see Confederate battle flags and emblems displayed in an area like Paulding County, the occurrence of seeing displays of Confederate battle flags and emblems is clearly on the wane and is in severe retreat from what it might have been just 15 years ago.
Even in Douglas County where racial and ethnic minorities now make up nearly 60% of the county's population, one used to see many more displays of the Confederate battle flag. Heck, I even have friends who talk about how it was not uncommon for the N-word to be used amongst many whites throughout Douglas County when the county's population was over 80-90% white... Something that along with frequent and proud displays of the Confederate battle flag obviously is not going to be the case in a Douglas County where racial and ethnic minorities make up nearly 60% of the county's population in an era where the Confederate battle emblem itself is viewed in a much more negative light by society as a whole.
Anybody who has been around Atlanta for a long time can tell you when it was not uncommon to see Confederate battle flags inside the I-285 Perimeter, not to mention in and throughout the five-county area of the metro Atlanta core that we now think of as being mostly 'majority-minority,' ultra-diverse and cosmopolitan in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
Sure, there are a relative few people who still proudly display Confederate battle flags on their homes and Confederate battle emblems on their vehicles in an area like Paulding County... But the people who may still do so seem to be in a shrinking minority, even as far as the OTP portion of the metro Atlanta region may be concerned.
Overall, the Atlanta region (including the OTP portion of the Atlanta region) has come a very long way from where it was even just 15-20 years ago.
It's easy to focus on something negative and it's easy to focus on a handful of people who may do something that many may understandably take offense to, like flying the Confederate battle flag or displaying the Confederate battle emblem on clothing and vehicles.
But at the same time one has to give people credit for the overwhelming amount of positive progress that has been made and that continues to be made.
If the amount of Confederate battle flags that one may see is how one may measure progress then many more Confederate battle flags seem to have been taken down than have been put up over the last 15-plus years, indicating a massive amount of progress on that front as well as in the broader Georgia and Southeastern society as a whole.
Along with no longer displaying the Confederate battle flag which many find offensive, many white metro Atlantans, Georgians and Southeasterners who might have used racial epithets in the past have stopped using racial epithets and overtly racist rhetoric and have accepted the increased diversity that is in their midst in a changing society.
Do we still have a long ways to go on many fronts? Certainly... But there is no denying that we as a society have come an extremely long way from where we were in the not-too-distant past and credit certainly must be given for that massive amount of progress in a relatively short period of time.
Last edited by Born 2 Roll; 10-23-2017 at 03:07 PM..
That is a good point that one likely will see very few, if any, Confederate battle flags and emblems north of I-285 in the triangle-like area between I-75 Northwest and I-85 Northeast until one gets really far away from the Perimeter.
Though, when I referred to traveling in Georgia and the Southeast outside of the I-285 Perimeter, I was not just referring to traveling in an area like the triangle between I-75 NW and I-85 NE, I was referring to all of Georgia and much of the Southeast outside of the I-285 Perimeter.
You make a great point the high educational attainment of the population of the triangle-like area of the Northern Crescent between I-75 NW and I-85 NE is most likely one of the reasons why one sees very few, if any, Confederate battle flags and emblems in that area north of Atlanta and north of the I-285 Perimeter.
Though, as you also acknowledged in your statement, the lack of Confederate flag displays in that area and other parts of the Atlanta metro area was not always the case.
When I drove a route in Newton County in far outer-suburban east metro Atlanta back in the early 2000's, I used to see (and even had to provide customer service to) quite a few homes where the Confederate battle flag was proudly displayed (...this was about the time of the intense debate over taking the Confederate battle emblem off of the Georgia state flag). Newton County has since become a 'majority-minority' county where racial and ethnic minorities make up more than 52% of the county's population, so along with that continuing demographic change and the overall change of society's perception of Confederate memorabilia, one sees fewer displays of the Confederate battle flag in an outlying OTP area like Newton County.
There is also a property in Smyrna at the northwest corner of Atlanta Road and Cumberland Parkway (I think that it was some kind of bank) where the owners of the property used to fly the old 1956-2001 Georgia state flag with the Confederate battle emblem on it up until only a couple of years ago.
And even though one may still see Confederate battle flags and emblems displayed in an area like Paulding County, the occurrence of seeing displays of Confederate battle flags and emblems is clearly on the wane and is in severe retreat from what it might have been just 15 years ago.
Even in Douglas County where racial and ethnic minorities now make up nearly 60% of the county's population, one used to see many more displays of the Confederate battle flag. Heck, I even have friends who talk about how it was not uncommon for the N-word to be used amongst many whites throughout Douglas County when the county's population was over 80-90% white... Something that along with frequent and proud displays of the Confederate battle flag obviously is not going to be the case in a Douglas County where racial and ethnic minorities make up nearly 60% of the county's population in an era where the Confederate battle emblem itself is viewed in a much more negative light by society as a whole.
Anybody who has been around Atlanta for a long time can tell you when it was not uncommon to see Confederate battle flags inside the I-285 Perimeter, not to mention in and throughout the five-county area of the metro Atlanta core that we now think of as being mostly 'majority-minority,' ultra-diverse and cosmopolitan in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
Sure, there are a relative few people who still proudly display Confederate battle flags on their homes and Confederate battle emblems on their vehicles in an area like Paulding County... But the people who may still do so seem to be in a shrinking minority, even as far as the OTP portion of the metro Atlanta region may be concerned.
Overall, the Atlanta region (including the OTP portion of the Atlanta region) has come a very long way from where it was even just 15-20 years ago.
It's easy to focus on something negative and it's easy to focus on a handful of people who may do something that many may understandably take offense to, like flying the Confederate battle flag or displaying the Confederate battle emblem on clothing and vehicles.
But at the same time one has to give people credit for the overwhelming amount of positive progress that has been made and that continues to be made.
If the amount of Confederate battle flags that one may see is how one may measure progress then many more Confederate battle flags seem to have been taken down than have been put up over the last 15-plus years, indicating a massive amount of progress on that front as well as in the broader Georgia and Southeastern society as a whole.
Along with no longer displaying the Confederate battle flag which many find offensive, many white metro Atlantans, Georgians and Southeasterners who might have used racial epithets in the past have stopped using racial epithets and overtly racist rhetoric and have accepted the increased diversity that is in their midst in a changing society.
Do we still have a long ways to go on many fronts? Certainly... But there is no denying that we as a society have come an extremely long way from where we were in the not-too-distant past and credit certainly must be given for that massive amount of progress in a relatively short period of time.
If you want a true small town, you have to get out of the metro area. Will find them closer to the heart of things south of the city than the north as the burbs have grown disproportionately north.
That said, all of the long time incorporated suburbs of Atlanta have their historic core downtowns and neighborhoods that hearken back to their older roots as small towns. The county seat towns of Lawrenceville and Marietta are good examples. Other nice burbs with nice older small town cores to go along with the aforementioned Kennesaw, Woodstock and Roswell: Acworth (one of my favorites), Alpharetta, Norcross, Powder Springs, Stone Mountain, Jonesboro....
If you want a true small town that feels like it is not a typical suburb but still close would look in the southern arc.... Carrollton, to Newnan to Griffin To Covington and some of the smaller towns in their orbit... Villa Rica, Whitesburg, Moreland, Senoia, Hampton, Jackson, Etc.
Depends so much on the definition of small town. Lots of different examples depending on who you ask.
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