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10 | THE MAROON TIGER
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15.2003
Comment
Race men don’t hyphenate
SAIDA GRUNDY
COMMENT EDITOR
He w as called the last of the race
men: apolitical mammoth whose death,
like the last giant tree falling in the forest,
left us all shaking in its aftermath. In the
city of Atlanta. Black folks searched for
each other with weeping faces buried
in their own palms.
“Did you hear the news?
Maynard’s gone.”
From City Hall to barber shops on
“Sweet” Auburn
Avenue. Black
Atlantans held
their own town
hall meetings.
The most
pressing item on
all their agendas was to find a proper
tribute to the ‘ ‘Lion of a Man’ ’. And with
the lightning speed that only the Black
word-of-mouth can bring, a proposal
emerged not even days after his passing:
"We will rename his airport for our
beloved Maynard.”
It seems only fitting. During his
first two terms as mayor from 1974 to
1982, Jackson masterminded the major
expansion of the airport in a move that
would make it the world’s busiest;
serving 37.7 million passengers last year
alone. Before the words “affirmative"
and “action” were placed together so
succinctly, he forced city developers to
partner with Black, Latin and women
contractors, creating an otherwise
unlikely generation of affluence in the
southeastern U.S. Today, his airport is
the state’s biggest economic engine,
generating 44,000 jobs and $17 billion
a year.
And we're talking about hyphens?
Family and allies of William
Hartsfield, the city’s longest serving
mayor (1937-1962). brought their
grievances to current Mayor Shirley
Franklin’s steps. Dale Hartsfield, a
family spokesperson, told the Atlanta
Journal Constitution, “Everybody
wants it to remain Hartsfield. We think
we’re protecting our heritage. I agree,
Maynard Jackson has done good things
for the airport and a lot for minority
participation, and that's great. But.to
hyphenate the name kind of waters it
down."
“Waters it down ”? Let us examine
the “heritage” that these sentiments are
protecting.
Under
“The airport-renaming issue scratches Mayor
up the very thin surface that blankets Hartsfield,
political tensions and the city’s racially ^
vicious yesteryear.” experienced
some of its
bleakest nights: violently aggressive
segregation, racist economic practices,
and a bottomless pit of Black poverty
despite the prosperity of the White
affluence that
spat in its face.
The Negro
Digest of
1948-49
picked
Atlanta as one
of the 10
worst cities for Blacks in the United
States. All this under a man who is
championed as the father of aviation for
this city—ironically in a time when the
overwhelming majority of Black
citizens could not afford a plane ticket
nor walk through his segregated airport.
Perhaps it is this thick legacy of racism
in Atlanta that is in dire need of
“watering down”.
The history of Atlanta has been
rewritten in celebratory fashion in
accordance with the whitewashing
trends in so much of U.S. history. Yes,
the airport already has a name, as does
Columbus, Georgia, Jefferson Davis
“...compromises like hyphenated
names smack the face of the Black
progress that was so powerfully
catalyzed by the Honorable Mayor
Mavnard Jackson.”
Community College, and Lester
Maddox Highway (respectively named
after a lost, murderous and pillaging
pirate; an embittered senator who
attempted to overthrow the U.S.
government; and a former mayor who
told whites to take pickaxes to the heads
of Black citizens as a surefire “solution”
to desegregation).
When the ground was broken for
Hartsfield International, we could not
have known how legendary Maynard
Jackson was going to be nor how much
we would miss him in his gigantic
absence. William Hartsfield was paid
the proper tribute owed him by having
his name loom upon that massive
complex for 30 years. But in 2003 we
have witnessed the unmarked passing
of too many of our greatest race men
and women. It’s reparations time and
Black folks are in the mood to take a lot
of stuff back. The names of all things
our labor has built are no exceptions.
It is
ironic that
Atlanta is
nicknamed
“The City
Too Busy to
Hate,” as if to
suggest that if
it found the
time, it would reconsider the activity.
The airport-renaming issue scratches up
the very thin surface that blankets
political tensions and the city’s racially
vicious yesteryear. But compromises
like hyphenated names smack the face
of the Black progress that was so
powefully catalyzed by the Honorable
Mayor Maynard Jackson. Allow in his
death the work of his life to speak for
him. Hang his name upon the airport
that churned the fertile soil of this city,
and let us sing forever his uninterrupted
and unhyphenated praises.
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THE MAROON TIGER
The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CHRISTIAN NWACHUKWU. JR, ‘04
TIMOTHY J. CUNNINGHAM, ‘04, Managing Editor
COLIN HOSTEN, ‘04, Copy Editor
NEWS
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NICHOLAS AUSTIN. ‘06, Associate Campus News Editor
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ARTS
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ONLINE
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EDITORIAL
SAIDA GRUNDY, Comment Editor
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FEATURES
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DESIGN
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Rapt in Passion
by Benjamin Jones
College is an institution to which
we all come, seeking different
experiences. Some of us come to meet
people and to learn something; others
want to be independent or to join dubs
or organizations; still others aim to
conquer campus politics, to network, to
grow; and some just want to grow up.
Collectively, we come to college to learn
more about ourselves, what we want to
do with our lives. We have not yet
outgrown the age-old question, “What
do you want to be when you grow up?”
but now we are additionally fronted with
the notion of passion. Like
beauty, love, and truth,
passion is an ambiguous
word that we are told to
discover and cultivate,
often without the necessary
tools to do so.
At a recent lecture on
career choices and passion,
I apprehensively raised my
hand and asked the speaker. “How do
you find your passion?" He responded
vaguely by saying, “There isn’t a
formula for finding your passion; once
you find it you'll know it." I withdrew
back to my seat with a vacant look on
my face, feeling even more confused
than before. As arbitrary as we may
believe it is to discover, there are some
practices and attitudes that can
demystify the idea of passion.
Knowing what interests you and
being familiar with the things you want
to learn about can potentially unlock
your passion. Participating in a myriad
of activities, both inside and outside of
your comfort zone, can also expose your
passion. Considering the fact that our
careers have to be both outlets for artistic
and professional expression, and
sources of income, being self identified
with your likes and dislikes and
knowledgeable about job markets can
increase your chances of being in tune
with your passion.
College is the most opportune time
to discover what we want to do with the
rest of our lives. Even though some will
attest that finding your true passion is a
. life long process, four years is the
allotted time my parents gave me to at
least have an idea.
Cynically speaking, most of what
we learn at college can be learned at the
local library, but inside these hallowed
walls we come seeking more than what
can be learned in a textbook: we come
to cultivate our
passions, hoping that
channeling this inner
desire will propel us
into high paying jobs.
While some of us can
claim with resounding
confidence, “I am an
actor.” “I am a doctor,”
“I am an accountant,”
or “I am a attorney,” others of us have
not been so lucky. Not all of us have
wanted to be investment bankers since
birth and intellectual property lawyers
since childhood.
Passion is an ambiguous word that
is superfluously used throughout our
college careers. Whether it’s the feeling
that writers get after being published or
the feeling that doctors get after saving
lives, being rapt in the idea of
discovering, cultivating, and following
our passions will lead us to our callings
rather than our careers.
“Only passion, great passion, can
elevate the human soul to achieve great
things. ” - Diderot
Benjamin Jones is a member of the
class of ‘05.
“Knowing what
interests you and
being familiar with
the things you want
to learn about can
potentially unlock
your passion.”