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I'd always noticed that during the civil rights movement much of the protest took place in Alabama and Mississippi. Why was this? What about Georgia? Were those two states more racist than Georgia during the 50's and 60's? Could what we saw in Alabama(water hoses,dogs) had happened in Georgia if more protest had happened in this state?
My understanding was that Georgia was just as bad in some parts (not necessarily all) of the state. The historical
references I looked at were in regards to (1) Muhammad Ali in his comeback fight set in Atlanta in the 1960s and
(2) the early childhood experiences of Herschel Walker at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
The childhood bullying imposed upon Walker was extremely brutal and rooted in racism of the time. As bad as it
was shown in the ESPN documentary, Ali's experience was worse. Even more inhumane was the "Battle Royal"
events held in the early 1900s when adolescent African American children were put in a boxing ring and blindfolded
and placed in a fight until only one was left. Beau Jack was a boxer from Georgia who got his start in such ridiculously
cruel events of the time held for the entertainment of "southern white gentlemen" (extreme sarcasm intended).
As for me, I am Native American. Georgia forcibly removed most of its Native Americans in the 1830s into Indian
Territory. The Cherokees had actually won their legal case in the US Supreme Court to stop the relocation. But
President Andrew Jackson ignored it. Hence, Georgia does have its dark history of racism, segregation, and genocide.
Atlanta's mantra was always the city too busy to hate...
I think that was fair. It never made any claim to be a perfect place, never claimed people didn't had their bias',.... it simply claimed we were too busy.
Georgia was going to resist change, but they did it in a slightly more moderate, less staunchly stubborn fashion. Change would be more like a small baby-step-by-step negotiation vs. a stone-wall that had to be knocked down.
Georgia was more urban and more moderate than our more rural counter-parts going further west. Atlanta was a boomtown. We had much going on and simply didn't want to be held down by everything that was going on. We wanted to seem like a safe place to invest
I'd always noticed that during the civil rights movement much of the protest took place in Alabama and Mississippi. Why was this? What about Georgia? Were those two states more racist than Georgia during the 50's and 60's? Could what we saw in Alabama(water hoses,dogs) had happened in Georgia if more protest had happened in this state?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwkimbro
Georgia had its fair share of problems.
Atlanta's mantra was always the city too busy to hate...
I think that was fair. It never made any claim to be a perfect place, never claimed people didn't had their bias',.... it simply claimed we were too busy.
Georgia was going to resist change, but they did it in a slightly more moderate, less staunchly stubborn fashion. Change would be more like a small baby-step-by-step negotiation vs. a stone-wall that had to be knocked down.
Georgia was more urban and more moderate than our more rural counter-parts going further west. Atlanta was a boomtown. We had much going on and simply didn't want to be held down by everything that was going on. We wanted to seem like a safe place to invest
Yes.
In general (a very general sense) and for a variety of multi-faceted reasons, the "western" South (Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, western Tennessee) was more hard-core during the Civil Rights Era than the "eastern" South (Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, central+eastern Tennessee).
North GA, even stretching down to the northern fringes of the metro, was extremely racist/hate/bigotry/supremacist until pretty recently. Forsyth County for example was basically more or less an openly racist county even into the early 90’s. The old school hate was re-ignited when the first black families dared be brave enough to move up to the north suburbs.
The rest of GA was a little bit different situation, because black folks were around and were part of everyday society. And Georgia racism was a bit less rowdy, a bit more polite than Alabama racism. With some exceptions though, like when the last whites-only establishments in Atlanta were forced to integrate. Lester Maddox and co threw a fit.
Now we’ve got a lot of the Trump-type racism/ white supremacy. Where they hide behind flag-waving nationalism and whatever.
But not in Atlanta, because Atlanta is the saving grace of the state. Any differences of Georgia and its Deep South neighbors, are 100% because of Atlanta.
I'd always noticed that during the civil rights movement much of the protest took place in Alabama and Mississippi. Why was this? What about Georgia? Were those two states more racist than Georgia during the 50's and 60's? Could what we saw in Alabama(water hoses,dogs) had happened in Georgia if more protest had happened in this state?
Its the tale of 3 cities. Jackson, Atlanta & Birmingham. The pressure mainly involved them. The smaller cities had a lot of trouble too, but Atlanta set it self a part from Birmingham & Jackson. Its all about good and bad decisions and knowing how the world around you views you and how the leadership of those cities at the time viewed the world. The entire states of Mississippi & Alabama suffered economically for bad choices.
I think most of the problem was with George Wallace, in making alabama a racist state. mississippi is still a racist state but not from a point of superior but more of a separatist point. Alabama got the idea into diversity while mississippi, at least the south part, is equal but separate
I find it inappropriate that so many things around the metro are named after Lester Maddox, like especially the I-75 bridge over the Chattahoochee between Fulton and Cobb. Really? The archsegregationist, one-term governor who refused to serve black GA Tech students at his restaurant, we're gonna name and dedicate our stuff after him? Shouldn't we be more ashamed of our past?
Robert E Lee was a far better person IMO, and probably even less racist, than ultraconservative Southern Democratic (Dixiecrat) politicians from a century after him. But reverence for Lee gets all the fury, while meanwhile those 20th century elected scumbags get entire lakes named after them (Strom Thurmond Lake), etc.
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