Why would you burn down MLK Jr.'s childhood home

 

[VIDEO] ABL Discusses what happened recently in Atlanta, this woman who is said to be a Navy veteran and reportedly suffers from PTSD attempted to burn a Federal landmark, the childhood home of Martin Luther King Jr. She was stopped by bystanders which included two retired NYPD officers. Wow!

When I first saw this story, I wondered if she even knew or cared about what she was doing. Perhaps it was a mental break of some sort, however, what drove her to do something like this. What led her to MLK's home?

Now I want to visit even more. If I had been able to come to SpelHouse homecoming if I had the time, this is one place that was worth visiting and sharing on my YouTube channel :P 

GA state rep leaves Democrats and joins Republican Party

 Although I spent a number of years in ATL at school at Morehouse College, I didn't always keep up with ATL politics. For one thing Atlanta is a solidly Democrat city, just like Chicago which they could be comparable in a number of ways.

Now having seen this story through Tim Pool allow me to delve into this. A member of the Georgia House of Representatives has switched parties from Democrat to Republican. I'm going to share with you a local article from a TV station because well those on the right will be all over this and view this as a victory.

A Georgia state legislator from Atlanta switched to the Republican Party on Tuesday, after being at odds with Democrats for reasons including her support for school vouchers and disciplining prosecutors.

"Today I stand here to say that I have decided to join the Republican Party of Georgia," said Rep. Mesha Mainor at a news conference Tuesday. "I supported children and family over the teachers union. I supported the Republican position not to defund the police."

Mainor becomes the only Black member of the GOP among Georgia’s 236 state lawmakers, and the first Black Republican woman to ever serve in the Georgia General Assembly. Mainor’s defection gives Republicans a 102-78 edge in the House.

Mainor said legislative Democrats drove her out of the party for breaking party orthodoxy, claiming at a Tuesday news conference outside the Georgia Capitol that they had "relentlessly tried to sabotage every single thing that I have done for District 56" and "publicly slandered me in every way imaginable."

This article mentions former GA legislator Vernon Jones who spoke in the 2020 GOP Convention and formally switched to the Republican party in 2021.

As a person who continues to straddle the fence on which party, I would more or less laud State Rep. Mainor for standing by her convictions. Unfortunately I recognize that there are consequence for this. If her district is solidly Democrat then she'll likely lose her seat which she won in 2020 a very volatile social and political year in my most recent memory.

In this case they can't primary her, if she runs to retain her seat she'll last through the general election and then could lose to the Democrat nominee for her seat. I would hope she could parlay this into other political ambitions if she may well chose not to remain in the Georgia General Assembly.

Regardless this is not something you see everyday. A Black Democrat switching parties to join the Republican Party. So this caught my attention for sure my mind might go to "this is a growing trend". It could be or perhaps the discussion as I see in a clip through Timcast IRL is that you might not see Republicans be so quick to join Dems as Dems might join the GOP. 

State of Emergency in Georgia

[VIDEO] I'm sharing this video from Tim Pool to further discuss the recent news out of Georgia that there is a state of emergency over the potential for riots in Atlanta, Georgia. There were riots recently in Atlanta as part of an anti-police protests.

This time around there is concern for violence with regards to a case of alleged police brutality in Memphis, Tennessee. So there might be concerns of riots there as well as five police officers have been charged with murder.

Now I have no issue with looking for answers in a case such as this. What I might emphasize in this is what Tim Pool talks about. What if most of the people engaging in the rioting are in fact white and what I like to call "outside agitators". This isn't about justice, it's about causing as much mayhem as possible.

Even with the unrest of 2020 after George Floyd there were some Blacks - and what we might hear in the media is Black leaders making noise about police brutality whether substantiated or not - who didn't want to see their communities burned to the ground. They were the ones telling the outside agitators not to destroy property within Black communities.

So I do hope that the concern of people like Gov. Brian Kemp doesn't come to fruition and no unrest comes at least to the city that is too busy to hate.

I was following the Atlanta, Georgia mayoral race

 Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms bows out and understandably after a difficult second half of her term having first taken office in 2018 with the pandemic and the civil unrest after the death of George Floyd. I was glad to see Kasim Reed who was her immediate successor try to regain his office this year. There will be a runoff, however, it doesn't appear that Reed will place in it.

From the AJC

A successful campaign would have been historic, making Reed just the second Atlanta mayor to win a third term in modern history.

But experts said Reed returned to a city that’s changed in the years since he managed it. Residents have sought solutions from City Hall amid a lack of affordable housing, economic disparities and social unrest following police misconduct.

Ultimately, Tuesday’s results suggest the former mayor — considered a frontrunner throughout the election due to his name recognition, fundraising ability and political prowess — was not able to overcome low favorability numbers across demographic lines, said Emory University political science Andra Gillespie.

“I think Kasim Reed lost because voters were ready to move on from his style of leadership,” Gillespie said. “The city changed, but also he changed, and I think his reputation had changed over the course of his mayoralty, which made a comeback difficult.”

Reed’s campaign was also dealt blows late in the election cycle. The president of the Atlanta NAACP strongly criticized Reed in a letter. He was also rebuked by legacy residents in the southeast Atlanta neighborhood of Peoplestown, who have fought with the city for years after Reed’s administration sought to use eminent domain to acquire the properties in the wake of destructive flooding.

Also:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution polling showed that many voters were less likely to vote for Reed because of the federal investigation at Atlanta City Hall that implicated seven city employees and four city contractors after Reed’s second term. The same poll found 50% of respondents had an unfavorable view of the former mayor.

Low voter turnout was also a factor this year.

Well as of now the top two to place in the run-off will be City Councilman Andre Dickens and City Council President Felicia Moore. More about Moore from that AJC article  

Moore dominated in Buckhead, taking two-thirds of the vote in some precincts, and won on much of the Eastside. Votes from DeKalb precincts put Dickens over the top and into the No. 2 spot. While Moore got about 45% of the DeKalb vote, Dickens took 28%, more than double what Reed received.

Buckhead? Don't they want to secede from the city of Atlanta over crime issues? They voted for the city's next mayor? 

From what I see Kasim Reed hasn't conceded. Perhaps they're still counting down there in ATL. And who knows if the results are razon thing the former mayor could ask for a recount. That's how this article started off anyway.

Atlanta is a nice city, it's where Morehouse College is located. It's a great place to visit and there are places there I do want to visit. It's a city too busy to hate and of course a wonderful place to visit and to live here's hoping it has dedicated leadership to continue moving it forward.

Kasim Reed is back

 

[VIDEO] Seems like an ego driven speech but then hey that's what you have in politics. And in this speech he gave at a birthday function for himself - his birthday has just passed - he made note of the issues going on in Atlanta, GA right now. For the past year I just have the idea that the ATL just isn't doing that great and we have to go no further than the unrest after George Floyd's death and Rayshard Brooks happened a bit after that.

I had the idea that the current Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was very weak. I have to do some research but I've seen out there that she was nothing more than a "placeholder" for when Reed - who was Mayor of ATL from 2010-18 - would come back to run the city. If I recall correctly the last mayoral race pitted Bottoms who was a member of the ATL city council before she became mayor and a white member of the ATL city council. The question wasn't who was the best person for that role but whether or not the Mayor of ATL should still be black?

Yeah I got to find an article about that.

Either way Reed's comments that you see above seem to indicate that he's unhappy about the condition of the city he formerly led and is announcing to the world that he's back. Perhaps this is one mayoral race that would be interesting to look at. The question here probably doesn't matter for this year but an easy one is whether or not he'd have lead a city any differently under a pandemic or if he'd have control of ATL's streets during a period of unrest.

Then again I find myself wondering if Rahm Emanuel would've fared much better if he had a third term instead of a term under Lori Lightfoot here in Chicago.

Mayor of Atlanta won't run again!

This is a bit of a shocker, or is it. I could criticize her response especially to the unrest that occurred in her city in the wake of George Floyd's death and Rayshard Brooks. It was noted that crime rate has risen there in Atlanta, Georgia during the past year. So either day I could criticize her, but she's had a rough year and there is an election coming up this year for mayor.

Atlanta still hasn't settled down

Via Newsalert, rioters were attacking police in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is a nice place just like Kenosha, Wisconsin which is also undergoing unrest. Very unfortunate that there is still unrest in the city "too busy to hate".

Atlanta Police Precinct Under Attack - Armed Leftist Rioters Set Up Barricades Preventing Emergency Vehicles from Passing https://t.co/xJFSio4Deh via @gatewaypundit @JoeHoft

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) August 26, 2020

If you can't tell I really like that slogan, but if there's unrest down there you wouldn't believe it would you?

Congrats to new Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

[VIDEO] I'm late to this, but I only found out about it today. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard had a cloud over him and it was corruption. Not only that it was his handling of the case involving the police officer involved in the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks.

From what I can tell especially amongst friends I chat with online they seem to think this shooting by former officer Garrett Rolfe could've been handled different. It didn't need to result in the death of another Black man by police. As I saw it the problem was Brooks allegedly pointed a weapon at the officer, actually it was a taser. Thus in my mind this shooting was justified, and I must conceded that only Rolfe can say for sure what he saw and what was on his mind when he made his call.

However, what I did see after that was a rust to judgement by the Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms who was quick to fire officer Rolfe from his position. And soon to be former D.A. Howard was quick to charge Wolfe with capital murder. So if you believe this article from Townhall, Rolfe and his family surely are breathing a sigh of relief.

Right is right and wrong is wrong. I believe Rolfe was being railroaded. Perhaps railroaded to save Howard's political butt! Here's hoping the new D.A. a woman by the name of Fani Williams as you see above will treat Rolfe more fairly than the politicians of Atlanta so far. Williams will have no Republican opposition in November, Fulton County is a lot like Cook County - being deep blue so that should be no surprise.

Perhaps police should be held to a higher standard, however, in a time of unrest I'd rather see justice prevail. A person shouldn't be sent to jail due to public opinion when the facts state that perhaps there is no condition where the person should be in jail or in the case of Rolfe, he'd have been off to th gallows!

The Townhall piece is via Instapundit!

On a related note there was a so-called "peace center" at the site of Brooks' fatal shooting. The area was a site of demonstrations and sadly the Wendy's that was part of that area was burned to the ground and I saw it live on TV when it happened. The Wendy's remains a burned out hulk of its former self with squatters camping out on the property and blocking off nearby streets. Unfortunately a sad side effect of this illegal peace center is that a little girl was shot and killed when her family took a wrong turn. This so-called peace center wasn't fitting of a city too busy to hate.

Hot Air: The Place Where George Floyd Died Has Become A Police No-Go Zone And A Place Of Nightly Violence

I don't know how this can be considered a good thing:

The NY Times reports that the area in Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed has become a memorial of sorts for people from all over the country who come to pay their respects. Because of the obvious tension with police, it has also become a no-go zone for the cops. And that has been fine during the day when things remain peaceful, but at night it becomes a different story

What does the NY Times say:

The chaos at night has presented city officials with the challenge of how to reassert control of the space without setting off new waves of anger, all while maintaining it as a solemn place to honor Mr. Floyd. In Ferguson, Mo., where the police killing of Michael Brown set off protests in 2014, tensions were reignited when officers moved to clear out a memorial.

But in Minneapolis, at least for now, the city is moving cautiously.

“Opening up too quickly will have a devastating effect on people still mourning,” said Angela Conley, a Hennepin County commissioner, who has been leading community discussions about the future of the area where Mr. Floyd was killed.

Even so, elected officials are fielding a growing number of calls from residents concerned about the violence and loud noise at night in the area, where, among several incidents, a pregnant woman was recently killed.

“What people aren’t recognizing is that people who live there are having a very, very challenging time from the unlawfulness that is occurring after the sun goes down,” said Andrea Jenkins, a member of the City Council whose district includes the memorial space. “There are constant gunshots every night. Emergency vehicles can’t get in. Disabled people are not able to access their medications, their appointments, their food deliveries, et cetera. It’s a very challenging situation.”

Ms. Jenkins, who noted that the area has historically been plagued by gang violence, has also been taking a leading role in discussions over how to memorialize Mr. Floyd’s killing. One proposal suggests making the garden permanent. Other ideas include a civil rights museum and renaming Chicago Ave. in honor of Mr. Floyd. Activists are finding ways to preserve the street art that was painted over the plywood boards that went up to protect businesses during the protests.

This council person also voted to abolish the city police and now she has to consider the area of this memorial where there is violence at night. And it's a shame a pregnant woman was killed in this lawlessness.

Also noted as we go back to HotAir:

This story reminded me of what happened at the site where Rayshard Brooks was killed by police in Atlanta. After Brooks death, people responded by burning down the Wendys and then a group of protesters took up residence in the parking lot and demanded the site become a “peace center.”

At the same time, another group of armed people began blocking off the street near the Wendy’s and deciding who could enter and who could not. They even stopped an Atlanta City Councilwoman. The area became a police no-go zone after an officer was assaulted.

But plenty of other people were showing up in the area and over two consecutive nights there were two shootings. Those shootings, on top of complaints from people in the neighborhood, should have prompted police to clear the area and end the roadblocks but it didn’t. And that’s when an 8-year-old girl named Secoriea Turner was killed. She and her mother had gone out for soda and were stopped at one of the barricades. Turner’s mother apparently attempted to get away by driving into a parking lot and two people opened fire on the car, killing the innocent little girl.

This is where I sarcastically say and tape, but thankfully I have no video available of the little girl who was murdered as her mother attempted to escape this so-called peace center [VIDEO]

I had been found out people were squatting at the former Wendy's property and this wasn't the first time I saw the above video. I couldn't believe Atlanta - a city too busy to hate - had their own version of CHAZ.

It can be appreciated that in times of tension police officers and civilian authorities have a difficult job. Again a lot of this seems to be tolerated by the leaders of these cities. The lawlessness with these "memorials" & "peace centers" shouldn't be tolerated.

h/t Instapundit

ABL: Atlanta Has A Case Of The BLUE FLU!

[VIDEO] I've been dismayed by the activity going on in ATL since the past weekend. Atlanta, Georgia which is home to the prestigious Morehouse College has undergone some unrest due to the shooting of another young man Rayshard Brooks after a police stop.

What's as dismaying is that the shooting took place in the parking lot of a Wendy's which due to the actions of these suspected arsonists went up in flames. That Wendy's had nothing to do with the death of Brooks other than it was the scene of his death.

Unfortunately I understand this blue flu. This is probably happening in Minneapolis, Minnesota or Seattle, Washington for example. I think police morale is down and they realize the big city politicians don't have their back.

Indeed in Minneapolis their city government has voted to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department and not too long after a police station there was set ablaze. In Seattle police were ordered to abandon a police station there as well to become part of this strange CHAZ or CHOP zone allowing radicals there to be "autonomous".

Either way in a time of great unrest which it seems we haven't entirely come out of we need the police to do their jobs even more. Right now the police are under attack.

As we see from Anthony Brian Logan he looks into whats going on with police in Atlanta. If Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wants help from neighboring agencies, they're saying no thanks. They see how Atlanta Police are being treated in an incident which it seems to go down the middle some think it was justified and others think officers could've handled it differently. Unfortunately the District Attorney in Atlanta has opted to charge the officers involved with capital murder.

I suppose if police officers down in ATL were demoralized and realizes that the politicians don't have their back then would I be very willing to come to work underappreciated. Would I be very willing to come to work where the rules have just changed and it becomes far more difficult to work such a dangerous and needed job?

Missing CAU student Alexis Crawford found dead #AUC

It's not often I post any news from the AUC but I saw an ig post from the profile AUC Cam and it shared some sad news about a missing student from Clark Atlanta University. Here's some details from ATL's 11 Alive news:

Atlanta Police confirmed that missing Clark Atlanta student Alexis Crawford has been found dead.

In a news conference Friday afternoon, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said Crawford was found dead in a park in DeKalb County off of Columbia Drive. Police said they were led to her body by one of the suspects.

Officers are now securing arrest warrants for Jordyn Jones and Barron Brantley. Jones is Crawford's roommate and Brantley is Jones' boyfriend, police said.

"While a motive has not been clearly established, the department did take a police report from Alexis Crawford on October 27, and this is a few days prior to her being reported missing. In this report, Alexis described unwanted kissing and touching from Barron Brantley," Shields said.

"The case has come to one of the saddest conclusions possible and has been absolutely heartbreaking," she added. "And to Alexis' family, our hearts go out to you. I am so truly sorry that we could not provide you with a better ending."

Wow! A college roommate and her boyfriend are suspects in this unfortunate case. I ache for the family of Ms. Crawford I hate to see news of foul play such as this.

AUC Cam post below

Creating a new Atlanta University out of many...

 Anyone who either currently attends or has attended Clark-Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Morehouse College would have something to say about this proposal to merge the schools of the Atlanta University Center into a new Atlanta University.

With the recent events of so many struggling HBCUs such as Bennett College and Paine College, the AU Center should be seriously considering ways to sustain a more cohesive institution to withstand these types of economic and financial shortfalls.

Clark College and Atlanta University merged out of necessity. Atlanta University, as a standalone graduate school, suffered declining enrollment and its budget was under exigency. Clark was the most logical choice and the school that would benefit the most from a consolidation with Atlanta University.

Fourteen years later in 2002, Morris Brown lost its accreditation due to financial aid fraud, massive debt and embezzlement of public funds. In 2009, Clark Atlanta University was forced to fire 55 faculty members in response to what was deemed a budgetary and enrollment emergency. In the past few years Morehouse College suffered declining enrollment, budget shortfalls, a Moody credit rating drop and declines in national rankings of best black colleges.

These issues did not arise without cause. After the Civil Rights Act of 1968, schools became increasingly desegregated and this in turn made for more competition for the historically black colleges. With the Atlanta University Center schools operating independently, they make themselves increasingly more vulnerable.

The Atlanta University Center, with the right guidance, planning and strategy (not to mention sizable funding) could become the largest most prestigious black college in the country. If they could forego hubris, ego and status in order to look to the future, they could become a new Atlanta University that stands shoulder to shoulder with other city named schools such as New York University, Boston University and University of Chicago.

It would be the Howard University of the South. It's time for the antiquated, some would even say sexist and old-fashioned structure of all male and all female collegiate learning environments to end. This is not to dismiss the great legacy and work these schools have done, but to honor them by charting a new sustainable course where the legacy of these institutions can thrive.

Take the University System of Georgia’s recent mergers and consolidations, for example. The USG has aggressively moved to consolidate several of its state college and universities of recent years. Over the past six years, the USG has merged or consolidated 20 of their public colleges and universities in an effort to streamline and restructure its system of schools as a cost saving measure.

I like the Atlanta University name better than my own comical name ClarSpelHouse University of Atlanta. 😛

Where is Tim Cunningham? #Blackandmissing

[VIDEO] Tim Cunningham - graduate of Morehouse College - has been missing for two weeks. A officer with the Atlanta, Georgia police Major Michael O'Connor discusses the details of this missing person case.

BTW, I have seen some other videos on YouTube regarding his disappearance. Some of them seem to suggest a conspiracy especially since Cunningham works for the Center for Disease Control. At this point I'm sure what his family wishes for is his safe return.

Again here's an instagram post from Morehouse College

Georgia Supreme Court sides with Clark Atlanta in property dispute

Fountain Hall Morris Brown College

An interesting court ruling regarding sale of property from the troubled Morris Brown College:

The Georgia Supreme Court gave the green light to Clark Atlanta University Monday to pursue a lawsuit claiming ownership of three properties from the bankruptcy of Morris Brown College.

In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled a 1940 deed conveying the three properties owned by Morris Brown to Clark Atlanta for $1 as a charitable gift was “valid and enforceable.” Morris Brown drew up the deed at a time the historically black college was in financial trouble and facing the loss of its campus to foreclosure.

In 2014, again facing bankruptcy, Morris Brown sold the property to Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency, for $10.8 million. Clark Atlanta sued, claiming the sale violated the deed’s requirement that the land be used for educational purposes and, thus, the properties should revert to Clark Atlanta.

In Monday’s ruling, the Supreme Court agreed with a lower court decision that selling the properties to Invest Atlanta would not fulfill the deed’s requirements.

Morris Brown College emerges from bankruptcy

Morris Brown is one of the schools located in the cluster of institutions known as the Atlanta University Center. Sometime in the last decade that school's administration had engaged in some corrupt practices that resulted in losing their accreditation and began a long road back to viability. Thanks to an e-mail going around on social media - from 6th District African Methodist Episcopal Church with whom the school has been affiliated during the course of its history - Morris Brown College emerges from bankruptcy and hopefully regain it's accreditation.

This is certainly good news and hopefully we will see Morris Brown regain it's rightful place amongst the nation's historically Black institutions of higher learning.

BTW, I have followed some of the news regarding this school over the years and here's one of them. I was a fan of My Urban Report unfortunately posting has slowed down over the years, but the blogmaster there had shared a video he did in connection with Morris Brown. Primarily to help the school raise the necessary funds to get the school back on its feet.

Just learned of a shooting involving a Morehouse College student

As much as people are worked up about what happened with Trayvon Martin last year, sometimes I wish that people could get worked up for incidents such as this. This time it involves a Man of Morehouse and this article from the AJC notes that this was the third arrest in the murder:

A third person has been arrested in the shooting death of a Morehouse College student, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday afternoon.

Anthony Finley, 23, was arrested Friday morning in Shiloh, about 75 miles southwest of Atlanta in Harris County, according to Supervisory Inspector Gavin Duffy with the Marshals.

Finley is third suspect in the June 13 shooting death of Joseph Gibbs. Gibbs, 23, died in his driver’s seat after being shot inside his car near the intersection of Parsons and Webster streets. He died near the campus of Morehouse College, where he was a few credit hours short of his diploma.

Atlanta police previously said the shooting appeared to be the result of a drug deal, though investigators have not released information about what led to the shooting.

Investigators believe after the first two arrests, Finley left the Atlanta area to stay with family member and elude capture. The case remains under investigation.

It's very disappointing that it was also reported that this crime was as a result of a drug deal. It's sad that a young man was cut down early once again, however, please remember that it's risky to be involved with drugs at all.

Since we're on the subject of tablets...

[VIDEO] This report is from CNN and how to restauranteurs use an iPad to enhance their eatery:

Christian and Nacasha Ruffin are using iPads to revolutionize their Atlanta restaurant.

I plan to return to ATL in time for homecoming. Hopefully I can visit their restaurant do at The View when I finally do return.

Thank goodness for some ingenous Googling because I was able to find them! It all started with their twitter account @DORestaurant.

FOLLOW-UP: MARTA ‘yellow' line to be renamed ‘gold'

To yesterday's post. Not that there was a reason not to cave and listen to the Asian community of Atlanta, however, this change only means that they plot to find ways to reduce the cost of this change. Well it's the cost of adjusting to sensitivities!

Moving to tamp a controversy that has reached the national news, MARTA CEO Beverly Scott said Thursday afternoon that the transit agency would change the name of its “yellow” train line, which goes to Doraville, home to a large Asian-American community. The line will now be called "gold."

Scott said the details had not been settled on exactly how to make the change, but it would be phased in -- a less expensive option than implementing it all at once.

"We’re thrilled," said Helen Kim, director of advocacy and education at the Center for Pan Asian Community Services in Doraville. "I think this shows that MARTA heard our voice and they are sensitive to our concerns."

"Yellow" has historically been used as a derogatory term for Asians, such as "the yellow peril" or "the yellow hordes."

Kim said her group and others would pay close attention to the details of the transition.

Scott said she still intended to meet with Asian-American group leaders as scheduled Friday, but that there was no point in delaying the decision. She said MARTA had never intended to offend anyone with the renaming, which went into effect Oct. 1 along with other color names for the rest of the system, and that it was making the change out of “an abundance of caring for this community.”

Not trying to complain, but it is what it is. Like I said yesterday imagine if the Red Line had been named the Yellow Line instead of the line formerly known as the Skokie Swift. The Red Line runs through two predominantly Asian communities.

Mixed reaction on MARTA's ‘yellow line' rebranding

When I finally graduated from Morehouse, I discover that the MARTA system has changed once again. A few years ago the Atlanta transit system transitioned from tokens to farecards. Last year they color code their rail lines.

There's a "minor" controversy with one color-coded line according to the AJC:

MARTA's decision to brand its train line into Doraville "yellow" has stirred quiet debate among some within Atlanta's growing Asian-American community.

That's not to say any Atlantans of Asian descent think it's a particularly good idea, considering that "yellow," when used to describe skin color, carries a racist connotation. But judging by a random sampling of patrons and business owners Tuesday at Doraville's Asian Square, a groundswell of opposition to the rebranding seems unlikely to build.

"Medium upset" is how Amigo Electronics co-owner Sue Gung described the community's reaction. Her husband was medium indifferent.

"What difference does it make if it's yellow, gold or black," said Gary Gung, noting that New York and other major cities use color coding to help commuters better navigate their transit systems. "Make the issue about the economy or something else more important."

Though transit authority officials were warned by their former manager of equal opportunity and conflict resolution that some might be offended by a yellow line to Doraville, MARTA CEO Beverly Scott said his complaint was not indicative of everybody's feelings.

Scott says she has asked Asian-Americans whether they were offended by the use of "yellow line," and they told her they were not.

You know at first glance I had declared this much ado about nothing then I saw this part, and I think I understand:

[Helen Kim, advocacy director for the nonprofit Pan Asian Center] said reactions to the controversy vary based on several factors. Some Asians new to America may be unaware of the racist connotations of yellow, for example. And previous generations who've endured more racism are prone to be more sensitive to its usage.

"If my parents or grandparents knew about this, they would raise hell," said Kevin Hoang, 30. "[MARTA officials] should've thought this through more."

I like this answer:

John Nguyen, owner of Saigon Deli, took a different approach. "I don't consider myself yellow. I'm gold," he said, smiling.

Excellent answer!

To me it's just a color, but to others within that community it's disrepect. It seems that many may understand that the coloring scheme wasn't made with the intention of offending anyone, but over a simple color there are those who feel slightly offending. All it took was to name a line that just so happened to terminate near the home of the Asian community.

I never really thought of Atlanta as a "cosmopolitan" metropolis. Although it's a long way from being merely a Southern city. Just imagine what would have happened if CTA has named the Red Line the Yellow Line instead. The current Red Line runs through two predominantion Asian communities. Instead the Yellow Line goes through this north suburban area called Skokie.

ATL Mayor says Obama stimulus not working

Newly minted Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says this about Obama's stimulus:

"What we said ... was that the method they used for disbursing the first stimulus dollars was wrong," said new Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, one of more than 200 mayors who met with the president and other administration officials at the White House. "That approach just did not work."

Thursday's meeting between members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the White House comes amid signs that -- despite improvement in the nation's economy overall -- the country's cities are still suffering.

A report issued by the mayors' group this week showed the bulk of the nation's unemployed are in cities. It also predicts that most cities won't see a return to pre-recession employment levels until at least 2013. Metro Atlanta is home to about 60 percent of Georgia's unemployed, according to the report. It also shows that Atlanta is among the country's hardest-hit cities economically.
...
Reed and other mayors want Washington to change the way economic stimulus money and other federal aid are distributed.

About 80 percent of stimulus money has gone directly to state governments, they say. Instead of being used to create new jobs, the bulk of the money has been used to save existing state government jobs -- teachers, law enforcement and others -- and for shoring up sagging state budgets.

If more money would flow directly to cities, the mayors' group contends, it could be used for local improvement projects that would create more jobs.

It was noted in this article is that Reed was a big Obama supporter and responded favorably to Obama's comments on Thursday when he said that he knows America's cities needs help.

With that in mind this just hasn't been a good week for President Obama has it? Is it possible that the President can turn this around?

BTW, I first heard about this on Hannity! I may not like to listen to his radio program or the fact that he seems to be a whiner sometimes his TV program on FOX News is a worthwhile program to watch.