Racial Diversity May Come to Atlanta Politics

Usually when the term "racial diversity" is used it denotes the addition of minorities to the political mix. Not in Atlanta:

The city that became a post-civil rights movement emblem of the political power held by African-Americans could have a white mayor for the first time in a generation — a possibility that has some in the black community scrambling to hold on to City Hall.

Atlanta Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who is white, is one of the front-runners for the Nov. 3 election, along with City Council President Lisa Borders and state Sen. Kasim Reed, both of whom are black.

All three have bristled at a racially charged e-mail circulated by a black leadership group calling for Norwood's defeat before a possible runoff. If the black candidates split the African-American vote, Norwood may find herself in a runoff, where she could benefit.

"Blacks do not return to the polls in a runoff, historically," said Clark Atlanta University political science professor William Boone. "It's going to be very interesting. This is the election that some folks had talked about was coming."

There have been reports of near panic among the black political elites in Atlanta that a white woman could be elected mayor.

In 2000, Atlanta was 33 percent white and 61 percent black. In 2007, the numbers were 38 percent white and 57 percent black, according to the U.S. Census.

In addition, blacks may no longer feel obligated to elect a black mayor, Boone said.

"You have a young generation of blacks — not native to Atlanta — who don't necessarily see that as something that has to happen," said Boone, who is part of a group that circulated the racially-charged e-mail. "They may be staking their vote on matters more critical than race."

However, a group of black community leaders is urging black voters to rally behind Borders, whose grandfather desegregated the city's police force and who was recently endorsed by the city's black clergy, to prevent a runoff that could hand Norwood a victory.

In late August, an incendiary and widely circulated e-mail specifically noting Norwood's race began circulating among black Atlantans, encouraging them to back Borders.

"Time is of the essence because in order to defeat a Norwood (white) mayoral candidacy we have to get out now and work in a manner to defeat her without a runoff, and the key is a significant Black turnout in the general election," the message sent by the Black Leadership Forum reads.

When Maynard Jackson was elected in 1973 as the city's first black mayor I'm sure some people felt that racism was finally over. Now it looks like racism may not have ended in that city until a white person is elected.