"ATLANTA - A potentially explosive dispute in the City Too Busy to Hate is taking shape over a proposal to break Fulton County in two and split off Atlanta's predominantly white, affluent suburbs to the north from some of the metropolitan area's poorest, black neighborhoods.
Legislation that would allow the suburbs to form their own county, to be called Milton County, was introduced by members of the Georgia Legislature's Republican majority earlier this month.
Supporters say it is a quest for more responsive government in a county with a population greater than that of six states. Opponents say the measure is racially motivated and will pit white against black, rich against poor.
'If it gets to the floor, there will be blood on the walls,' warned state Sen. Vincent Fort, an Atlanta Democrat and member of the Legislative Black Caucus who bitterly opposes the plan. Fort added: "As much as you would like to think it's not racial, it's difficult to draw any other conclusion."
The legislation calls for amending the Georgia Constitution to allow the return of Milton County, which succumbed to financial troubles during the Depression and was folded into Fulton County in 1932.
The former Milton County is now mostly white and Republican and one of the most affluent areas in the nation. Atlanta and its southern suburbs are mostly black, are controlled by Democrats and have neighborhoods with some of the highest poverty rates in America. (Buckhead, a fashionable Atlanta neighborhood of clubs, restaurants and mansions, would remain in Fulton County.)
"The only way to fix Fulton County is to dismantle Fulton County," said state Rep. Jan Jones, the plan's chief sponsor. "It's too large, and certainly too dysfunctional, to truly be considered local government."
Jones, a former marketing executive who lives in the Fulton suburb of Alpharetta, cited the county's troubled library and public transit systems and a jail that was taken over by a federal judge because it was filthy and unsafe. He denied the move is racially motivated.
Don Petree, the 62-year-old owner of Don's Hairstyling in Roswell, another northern Fulton suburb, said many of his customers "feel like they're not being taken care of like they should be with the tax dollars they're spending. I think there's some truth to that."
Milton County would have a population of about 300,000, instantly making it Georgia's fifth-largest county.
Residents of north Fulton represent 29 percent of the county's population of 915,000 but pay 42 percent of its property taxes, according to a local taxpayers group. A split would lead to the loss of $193 million in property taxes alone for Fulton County.
About 25 miles to the south in downtown Atlanta, the Rev. J. Allen Milner said he is afraid the tax revenue loss would have a devastating effect on those who need government help the most.
"If you take that money out of their coffers, human services will suffer greatly," said Milner, a black man who runs a homeless mission and is pastor of the Chapel of Christian Love Church.
Critics of a split also worry about the future of Grady Memorial Hospital and the Atlanta area's MARTA commuter-rail system — both of which have contracts with the county.
In addition, some warn that a breakup of Fulton could harm Atlanta's international reputation as a progressive city and hurt its appeal as a business, entertainment and convention destination.
While other Southern cities erupted in violence a generation ago, Atlanta came through the civil rights movement with little strife, earning the nickname The City Too Busy to Hate. It is now home to one of the nation's largest black middle-class communities.
"This would send a clear messages to companies around the country that Atlanta may not be as progressive as it would like people to think," Fort said.
The measure would require the support of two-thirds of both the House and Senate. Then it would have to put to a statewide vote. Also, residents of what would become Milton County would have to endorse the plan.
While Republicans have majorities in both chambers, they would need to win over three Democrats in the Senate and 14 in the House to get it passed.
The legislation has support from some of the Legislature's key leaders. Republican House Speaker Glenn Richardson has referred to his top lieutenant, Rep. Mark Burkhalter, as "the member from Milton County."
~~I would like to thank AP writer Doug Gross for that story~~
Like I didn't see that coming. "Too busy to hate" huh. Yeah right. Here is the deal black folks; we had better get our sh** together real fast, or you will be seeing more and more stories like this one. Now personally, I could care less. White folks and all the house negroes and like minded people could pack up and designate 40 states off limits to the rest of us, and I really wouldn't give a f**k. The problem is, that you negroes left behind with me will have to carry your weight, or the field will be leaving this mother f****r all together. (Heck, the American dollar is exchanging at 70 to 1 in Jamaica right about now. And if you ever feel the weather in Mandeville you will never want to leave )
The field will be fine. It's you other negroes I am worried about. Too spoiled to live in the Third World, and too afraid to break away from your Masters. What will you do when your Masters want to break away from your black asses? I know I know, cry racism, and call Jessie, and the federal government, -"there will be blood on the walls". Why, because the white man is sick of paying taxes for your black ass?
So a word from the field; if white folks in Atlanta-supposedly the new Mecca for black folks. Yeah right, don't get it twisted, just because you have a few black colleges and a bunch of pro athletes make their home there, don't for a minute forget that it's in GEORGIA! You know, home of Forsythe County, Newt Gingrich, Robert E. Lee, and the Confederate Flag-want to get away from your black asses, what do you think white folks in the rest of the country are thinking?
May I suggest that we start going to school-not just High school and throwing a big fu****g party for Pooky when he graduates!) When I say school, I mean college and beyond. Stay the f**k out of the criminal justice system, start staying with our families, and start getting these high paying jobs. Then we can pay our taxes, strengthen our neighborhoods, and get these little knuckle heads off the crack corners that's netting them $500 a week cause they can make that doing a real nine to five.
Then I hope we won't cry bloody murder when white folks decide to incorporate their own county and pay for their own goods and services. Then America can give me a bunch of states for me and all the other field negroes in this mother f****r. I think I will call it FIELDIFORNIA.
Before I go, nice to see that the feds finally prosecuted that animal who helped to drag beat and kill two innocent black men in Mississippi in
1964. Henry Dee and Charles Moore were at an ice cream stand trying to pursue some f*****g happiness, when the Klan picked them up beat them within an inch of their lives and threw them into the Mississippi river. Yeah, I hope the racist SOB,James Ford Seale, meets the same faith as Sadaam. But field he is a poor old man now, shouldn't he just be able live his life out in prison? OK, I guess, after all he is old, and I am, after all, opposed to the death penalty. Mmmmmm, maybe they can put him in general population with some brothers, who, let's just say know their history a little bit. I will take that. Old James living out the rest of his miserable life as some old black man's bitch.
Legislation that would allow the suburbs to form their own county, to be called Milton County, was introduced by members of the Georgia Legislature's Republican majority earlier this month.
Supporters say it is a quest for more responsive government in a county with a population greater than that of six states. Opponents say the measure is racially motivated and will pit white against black, rich against poor.
'If it gets to the floor, there will be blood on the walls,' warned state Sen. Vincent Fort, an Atlanta Democrat and member of the Legislative Black Caucus who bitterly opposes the plan. Fort added: "As much as you would like to think it's not racial, it's difficult to draw any other conclusion."
The legislation calls for amending the Georgia Constitution to allow the return of Milton County, which succumbed to financial troubles during the Depression and was folded into Fulton County in 1932.
The former Milton County is now mostly white and Republican and one of the most affluent areas in the nation. Atlanta and its southern suburbs are mostly black, are controlled by Democrats and have neighborhoods with some of the highest poverty rates in America. (Buckhead, a fashionable Atlanta neighborhood of clubs, restaurants and mansions, would remain in Fulton County.)
"The only way to fix Fulton County is to dismantle Fulton County," said state Rep. Jan Jones, the plan's chief sponsor. "It's too large, and certainly too dysfunctional, to truly be considered local government."
Jones, a former marketing executive who lives in the Fulton suburb of Alpharetta, cited the county's troubled library and public transit systems and a jail that was taken over by a federal judge because it was filthy and unsafe. He denied the move is racially motivated.
Don Petree, the 62-year-old owner of Don's Hairstyling in Roswell, another northern Fulton suburb, said many of his customers "feel like they're not being taken care of like they should be with the tax dollars they're spending. I think there's some truth to that."
Milton County would have a population of about 300,000, instantly making it Georgia's fifth-largest county.
Residents of north Fulton represent 29 percent of the county's population of 915,000 but pay 42 percent of its property taxes, according to a local taxpayers group. A split would lead to the loss of $193 million in property taxes alone for Fulton County.
About 25 miles to the south in downtown Atlanta, the Rev. J. Allen Milner said he is afraid the tax revenue loss would have a devastating effect on those who need government help the most.
"If you take that money out of their coffers, human services will suffer greatly," said Milner, a black man who runs a homeless mission and is pastor of the Chapel of Christian Love Church.
Critics of a split also worry about the future of Grady Memorial Hospital and the Atlanta area's MARTA commuter-rail system — both of which have contracts with the county.
In addition, some warn that a breakup of Fulton could harm Atlanta's international reputation as a progressive city and hurt its appeal as a business, entertainment and convention destination.
While other Southern cities erupted in violence a generation ago, Atlanta came through the civil rights movement with little strife, earning the nickname The City Too Busy to Hate. It is now home to one of the nation's largest black middle-class communities.
"This would send a clear messages to companies around the country that Atlanta may not be as progressive as it would like people to think," Fort said.
The measure would require the support of two-thirds of both the House and Senate. Then it would have to put to a statewide vote. Also, residents of what would become Milton County would have to endorse the plan.
While Republicans have majorities in both chambers, they would need to win over three Democrats in the Senate and 14 in the House to get it passed.
The legislation has support from some of the Legislature's key leaders. Republican House Speaker Glenn Richardson has referred to his top lieutenant, Rep. Mark Burkhalter, as "the member from Milton County."
~~I would like to thank AP writer Doug Gross for that story~~
Like I didn't see that coming. "Too busy to hate" huh. Yeah right. Here is the deal black folks; we had better get our sh** together real fast, or you will be seeing more and more stories like this one. Now personally, I could care less. White folks and all the house negroes and like minded people could pack up and designate 40 states off limits to the rest of us, and I really wouldn't give a f**k. The problem is, that you negroes left behind with me will have to carry your weight, or the field will be leaving this mother f****r all together. (Heck, the American dollar is exchanging at 70 to 1 in Jamaica right about now. And if you ever feel the weather in Mandeville you will never want to leave )
The field will be fine. It's you other negroes I am worried about. Too spoiled to live in the Third World, and too afraid to break away from your Masters. What will you do when your Masters want to break away from your black asses? I know I know, cry racism, and call Jessie, and the federal government, -"there will be blood on the walls". Why, because the white man is sick of paying taxes for your black ass?
So a word from the field; if white folks in Atlanta-supposedly the new Mecca for black folks. Yeah right, don't get it twisted, just because you have a few black colleges and a bunch of pro athletes make their home there, don't for a minute forget that it's in GEORGIA! You know, home of Forsythe County, Newt Gingrich, Robert E. Lee, and the Confederate Flag-want to get away from your black asses, what do you think white folks in the rest of the country are thinking?
May I suggest that we start going to school-not just High school and throwing a big fu****g party for Pooky when he graduates!) When I say school, I mean college and beyond. Stay the f**k out of the criminal justice system, start staying with our families, and start getting these high paying jobs. Then we can pay our taxes, strengthen our neighborhoods, and get these little knuckle heads off the crack corners that's netting them $500 a week cause they can make that doing a real nine to five.
Then I hope we won't cry bloody murder when white folks decide to incorporate their own county and pay for their own goods and services. Then America can give me a bunch of states for me and all the other field negroes in this mother f****r. I think I will call it FIELDIFORNIA.
Before I go, nice to see that the feds finally prosecuted that animal who helped to drag beat and kill two innocent black men in Mississippi in
1964. Henry Dee and Charles Moore were at an ice cream stand trying to pursue some f*****g happiness, when the Klan picked them up beat them within an inch of their lives and threw them into the Mississippi river. Yeah, I hope the racist SOB,James Ford Seale, meets the same faith as Sadaam. But field he is a poor old man now, shouldn't he just be able live his life out in prison? OK, I guess, after all he is old, and I am, after all, opposed to the death penalty. Mmmmmm, maybe they can put him in general population with some brothers, who, let's just say know their history a little bit. I will take that. Old James living out the rest of his miserable life as some old black man's bitch.
Hmmm...FIELDIFORNIA. Has a nice ring to it, send me a brochure. As for Dee and Moore, it just goes to show that when it comes to justice, you can run, but you can't hide. I don't care if they are 99 years old and on their deathbed, send them to JAIL. That punishment will be a vacation compared to what's coming for them on judgement day.
ReplyDeleteLoved the column. You told some hard truths, and nothing you said was wrong.
ReplyDelete'We' as a community would give a party for the criminal coming home from prison...
Or, if the guy has scores 3 touchdowns..
But, the guy who's accepted into a special science program, or makes it into the National Honor Society..'might' get a slice of cake from the store IF ' Mama' remembers.
Now, this isn't in my home, or my parents home...but we're seen as the 'wierd ones' on my block.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post as usual, Field. We really need to be reminded at times that we absolutely, unequivocally need to do better. We need to stop looking at our college graduates as the ones who "made it"--that's something we all should be doing.
ReplyDeleteI'll be one of the first to buy some property in Fieldifornia.
We really need to teach children not to limit themselves when it comes to career options. Too many of them think it's more realistic to become a rapper or an athlete. If you look at the odds, they actually have a better chance of becoming a brain surgeon.
ReplyDeleteAs for the parties for the prison parolees, it's the sad truth. I know people with relatives in prison (whites and blacks), and they don't even look on it as a serious problem. They treat the person like he away "on a little vacation." They run up their own phone bills taking the collect calls, they send money and gifts to the prison. I'm not saying treat the person like garbage, but you have to address the issue that they did something wrong. It's not a family emergency or a scandal anymore, it's a way of life.
Racism still exist. I cannot see how a split would help the county. if anything it would hurt it. To me this soley racial motivated.
ReplyDelete3 words: Hot racist mess! Is there any mention to allow slavery there?.?
ReplyDeleteIf Jamaica would ever get their shit together regarding gays, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeletebetter make it a young black man. more anger and strength there. hate to be the dissenter, but i can kind of understand the too big for decent service argument. i know its just a cover to get away from the poor, black and democrat, but i can kind of understand it. on the other hand, you live in ATL, one of the largest cities in the world. wth do you expect? and the new black mecca is charlotte.
ReplyDeleteLooking at this in a purely government efficiency way, the more 'local' you make a government, the more it costs. Period. You double services on so many things, and you restrict the tax base and growth possibilities (but maybe that's the point?). Plus, this devolution would create several other problems, such as things owned by Fulton County.
ReplyDeleteThis makes no sense for anyone, IMO. This seems like when the Northeast wanted to break off...who would it help? It'd help their taxes for about 10 years, but then they'd really start regretting it once they realized how idiotic the move was.