Memo about a ‘black agenda’ in mayor’s race roils Atlanta
By Patrik Jonsson | 08.28.09
Now that America has elected its first black president, Atlanta – the jewel of the South – is facing a very real possibility of electing its first white mayor in more than a generation.
Enter “the black agenda.”
A memo circulating in Atlanta’s political back rooms this week talks explicitly about the importance of electing a black mayor in November who could advocate for “a black agenda [that] would better enable us to have our interests respected by and our influence realized in any administration.”
“With the ‘Black Mayor first’ approach there is an unstated assumption that having a black mayor in Atlanta is equal to having a black social, economic and political agenda or at least someone in office who would be sensitive to that agenda if not a full promoter of that agenda,” reads the memo, distributed and written at least in part by Atlanta-based political strategist Aaron Trupeau.
It’s not hard to imagine the outcry that would have erupted had any group of conservatives proposed a “white agenda.” Still, the memo, which argues that the African-American community should rally around a single black candidate to ensure that an African-American prevails, has caused a tremor in a city that prides itself on being “too busy to hate.”
The memo is “dangerous” and “offensive,” writes the Altanta Journal-Constitution’s Jay Bookman in a blog, in that it “treats the mayor’s office as a black possession, a trophy of sorts that could be surrendered to white Atlantans for the first time in 35 years.” Seven candidates have thrown their hats in the rings – all but one of them black. The two front-runners in the mayoral race are City Councilors Lisa Borders, who is black, and Mary Norwood, who is white.
Mr. Bookman continues: “The memo is valuable because it brings to the surface a sentiment that is more widely held among black voters than many local leaders, black and white, would care to publicly acknowledge. Many black voters — older voters in particular — take pride in the idea that Atlanta is a black-run city, and for some that sense of pride would be diminished if a white person were elected to lead it.”
To be sure, Southern blacks can point to a long history of political exclusion under white administrations as a major reason to hold onto power. But the memo nonetheless may suggest that urban black leaders – both here and in places like New Orleans – feel themselves to be in an uncomfortable position as they worry about the voting inclinations of younger, middle-class whites who have gone urban in the past decade.
Republican US Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R) of Kansas recently came under fire for speaking of her party’s need for a “great white hope” to counter President Obama. The “black agenda” memo, which shows there are countervailing forces intent on maintaining racial dominance in places like Atlanta, is also causing a stir, at least locally. If Mr. Obama wants to keep up the public dialogue about race in America, it appears he’s going to have ample opportunity.
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2. Roland Olsen | 08.29.09
Minorities have free reign to discriminate. There is a Spanish radio station in Florida where a auto repair shop’s whose advertising says “The auto repair shop for hispanics like me like you.” Just imagine if that statement was “The auto repair shop for whites like me like you.”
3. michael johnson | 08.30.09
To paraphrase Shakespeare, “turnabout is fair play”, Or in the more modern parlance, “what goes around comes around.” If you read (and understand) American history, with the enslavement of Africans, the genocide of the native peoples, the oppression of Latin and Asian and other peoples, caucasian Americans are getting off very easy. If the “retribution” of the people previously forcefully denied access to the rights and wealth of America only takes the form of “self empowerment” and speaking harshly of their former oppressors they (caucasians) should thank their lucky stars, and be glad that they aren’t dealt that that they gave.
4. rst | 08.30.09
I and my family moved out of the Atlanta area this summer. There were any number of reasons (poor public schools probably the biggest), but racial tension was a factor. I’m not sick of white people; I’m not sick of black people; I’m not sick of Hispanic people (and I’m not even saying which, if any, of these I am). I am, however, sick of watching them play together so poorly. Atlanta may be too busy to hate, but it’s not too busy to bicker, backstab, and begrudge.
5. AWBilinski | 08.30.09
And the fact that a particular ethnic group is seeking to create a political advantage for itself is shocking for what reason? After all, what does any political organization do if not attempt to establish political dominance, whether it is Jerry Falwell, Richard Daley, Louis Farrakhan, or Barack Obama. As a middle-of-the-roader (at least as I like to think of myself) I am not comfortable with any specific group with their own narrow interests having a corner on a political market. But, this is politics. At least its not some Mullah with his own private militia or a resurgent ***. Not yet anyway? That is a problem with “hidden” agendas. They get “outed” and everyone freaks and runs off and does something equally dumb; or worse, the extremists seize upon it as a justification for their own nuttiness. What is a MOTR like me supposed to do? Draw up my own agenda!
6. Joe Carlton | 08.30.09
As we all know, minorities have deep rage toward caucasian Americans, due to “the enslavement of Africans, the genocide of the native peoples, the oppression of Latin and Asian and other peoples” etc. At the moment, they keep a lid on it, but after Obama’s upcoming amnesty and another generation of illegal immigration, we will see the minority agenda come into the open. As in Zimbabwei and South Africa, the theme will not be a rainbow of colors, holding hands and working together. It will be time for revenge on the white man.
7. Pappadave | 08.30.09
The truth be told, the U.S. is the ONLY nation on the planet where blacks (or other “minorities”) may thrive–regardless of how their ancestors first got here. That’s not to say that whites feel they are “owed” something by blacks or other minorities–just that a real, rational recognition of that simple fact ought to ameliorate most resentment they may still harbor over slavery–which, after all, cost hundreds of thousand of mostly white American lives to bring to an end, and which ended 145 years ago so that no one alive today (nor virtually any of their parents) lived under slavery and no white alive today ever OWNED a slave. Get over it!
8. fs | 08.30.09
michael johnson:
“To paraphrase Shakespeare, “turnabout is fair play”, Or in the more modern parlance, “what goes around comes around.” If you read (and understand) American history, with the enslavement of Africans, the genocide of the native peoples, the oppression of Latin and Asian and other peoples, caucasian Americans are getting off very easy. If the “retribution” of the people previously forcefully denied access to the rights and wealth of America only takes the form of “self empowerment” and speaking harshly of their former oppressors they (caucasians) should thank their lucky stars, and be glad that they aren’t dealt that that they gave.”
read the black intellectual and harvard trained economist, thomas sowell, in ‘black *******, white liberals’ and educate yourself. slavery and persecution have existed throughout human history. the black barbary pirates enslaved millions of white europeans. arab slave traders enslaved millions of africans. cortez marched with a number of amerindian tribes against the aztecs when he overthrew their government- because these same amerindian tribes were tired of being oppressed and subjugated by the aztecs.
to people who don’t know enough of human history, the widespread scale of human barbarity will come as a shock. as sowell writes, every race has had examples where they enslaved others. your fixation on the ‘white man’ and demand that blacks have a de facto different standard for what constitutes racism may be comforting but won’t help blacks.
if you really want to help blacks, eliminate welfare. this has been the single biggest driver of illegitimacy rates among all groups in this country.
9. LeaveNoLiberalUnturned | 08.30.09
Mr. Michael Johnson is so full of himself that if I were a doctor, I’d offer a diagnosis that he apparently has his apical appendage lodged in his anterior orifice. As fs states, Americans, especially younger Americans, have no sense of history. The leftist NEA has, for decades, controlled the cirricula in our public schools. What they pass off as history is revisionism in the finest Stalinist tradition. It has become more important to them to see to it that our children are properly politically indoctrinated than to attempt to prepare them to be productive citizens. It would certainly appear that our leftist teachers are due congratulations for having succeeded so admirably in the case of Mr. Michael Johnson. I must agree, if this Atlanta political agenda were of caucasioan origin, there would be riots, looting and cars and buildings burning. Congrats on your exodus, rst.
10. James Doyle | 08.31.09
This past week a memo was circulated around City Hall….asking citizens to vote for Lisa Borders to preserve the black agenda. The memo indicated that the black agenda would be lost if a black mayor was not elected in. Unfortunately the black agenda has been lost for many years. Evidence of this can be seen in our heavily neglected historically black communities such as English Avenue, Peoplestown, Mechanicsville, Adair Park, the list goes on.
If the black agenda has been preserved all these years how come the black communities in this city have not been preserved? The scholars who wrote the memo who are allegedly professors at Clark Atlanta are not paying attention when they drive into the campus each day. The area surrounding Clark Atlanta is not preserved and it is not safe. Most of the homes have gone into foreclosure. Over the past 25 years the “black agenda” that the scholars at Clark Atlanta (the memo writers) has done nothing but destroy the very same neighborhoods that blacks reside in. Get a grip atlanta….its not about color its about quality of life.
11. LeaveNoLiberalUnturned | 08.31.09
Unfortunately, in the current political climate, quality of life is of little importance. Of far greater import is quantity of votes. Those who live in these blighted areas can be counted on to vote for Liberal Democrats, because history has demontrated that Democratic administrations will be certain to keep the welfare checks coming. When mama gets too old to keep making babies, the 14 or 15 year-old daughter quits school so she can now produce the illegimate offspring necessary to insure the continuance of government handouts. Slavery in America is alive and well.
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. lc | 08.29.09
If this were a conservative memo it would be a different story. People would be up in arms.