Chamblee54

It could have been predicted. Atlanta made the national news this week, and did not look good. We all know this, and many have opinions as to the nature of the problem. Now, Slate magazine has their hypothesis, What Does Racism Have to Do With Gridlock?
Now, in this part of the world, race usually has something to do with just about anything. The lack of preparation, the skepticism about the warnings, and the disaster that ensued are all, to this author, subordinate to “the question of race.” The rest of America is amused.
“Exhibit A” is the failure of the T-SPLOST referendum. What the author fails to mention is that T-SPLOST was opposed by the local NAACP. They were upset because there were no plans for a rail line to South DeKalb county. T-SPLOST was opposed by many people, with a wide variety of labels.
T-SPLOST was a horribly flawed proposal. Two weeks before the referendum, the staff of Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed objected to being blamed for the problems with T-SPLOST, and wrote a tacky newspaper article. Wednesday morning, as Atlanta struggled to recover, Mr. Reed was widely quoted as saying “I’m not going to get into the blame game.”
Black people are a part of the political power structure, especially on the local and county level. Thirty percent of the voters statewide are Black, with majorities in many local areas. If the Black community does not work together with the White community, there are going to be problems. Whose fault is this? There is plenty of blame to go around for everyone.
The story quotes another piece on income inequality, saying that Atlanta leads the nation in this problem. Here is a case where you make your statistics tell whatever story you want them to tell. It says that this is the City of Atlanta, which has less than ten percent of the metro population. It also does not mention the large, affluent Black middle class. Black is no longer synonymous with poor.
To repeat the obvious, yes race was involved. But to *blame* this disaster on racism is not going to help. Finger pointing, and refusal to accept responsibility, is not going to accomplish anything. This is a time to work together. Blaming a disaster on racism is not going to help. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.