About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2011)
ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS Racial politics in Athens are a mess, despite the best efforts of hard-working, well-meaning people in all segments of the community. Why is that? This is a progressive- minded city, for the most part, and whatever your position on what that's worth, a big part of what it entails is a serious intent to correct the harms brought about by racial injustice, our nation's—and especially, our region's— original sin. But despite the seriousness of that intent, we're continually ranked among the United States' most impoverished and economically unequal counties. That poverty is concen trated in Athens' minority communities, and contrasts starkly with the mostly white, UGA- centered upper middle class that unsurpris ingly dominates local politics. And however much all those politically active white people may want to help improve the situation for black people in poverty, that awful contrast is always there, which makes for some pretty raw relations. It creates divisions in places where unity is needed, and exacerbates divisions in plates where they already exist. A couple of events here last week shot some light into that divide. Some white residents of the now par tially gentrified but once almost exclusively black neighborhood that stretches eastward from the tract of land that will soon be developed by the Atlanta firm Selig—with a 94,000-square-foot Walmart as the project's "anchor," as currently planned—had organized a neighborhood meeting at the East Athens Community Center. It was envisioned, in part, as a chance to get members of the East Athens African-American community, whose interests had been so much discussed in terms of the development, actually involved in the conversation—a good goal. But early in the meeting, some of the most impassioned testi monials by white residents were centered on the historic nature of the development site, and the need to prevent its special ambiance from being disturbed by sontething like a Walmart. Val Freeman, a longtime resident of the neighborhood who was one of about 10 African Americans in the audience of about 40 neighbors, was clearly put off. She said she didn't understand why people were so con cerned about a bunch of old sheds and brick ruins when there was a whole neighborhood behind them that was full of poor people who need access to groceries and jobs. Walking past the fenced-off, overgrown and unused Armstrong & Dobbs site, she said, "I see something different from what you see." As a veteran of local anti-poverty initiatives— including a campaign to keep the Lexington Road Walmart from locating there—Freeman was well aware of the complexity of the issues on the table. But her perception was that the interests of a large segment of the community weren't being considered, and she emphati cally brought them to the fore. Of course, the vast majority of people at the meeting, white and black, were fully con scious of the need for groceries in that part of town, and of the fact that historic preserva tion is not the top concern of people trying to fight their way out of poverty. But the conver sation in the room hadn't yet been framed to give those factors their proper importance, and that needed to be corrected. Val Freeman, who had felt the need to state outright that she was speaking "from a black person's perspective," did so. The rest of the meeting was focused on the needs of all the people in the neighborhood, and how they might be addressed by the development with as little negative collateral impact as possible. It was agreed that this discussion among neighbors should continue, and that a concerted effort was needed to get more people in the area informed and involved. The next day, there was a meeting of the committee that's been assigned the task of determining whether Athens-Clarke County's two commission "superdistricts" have the effect of diluting minority voting strength. That's an extremely valid question, but in this case it's being asked in the context of a local redistricting process that's been shaped to a great extent by state legislators whose agenda, it's fair to speculate, has more to do with strengthening the voting power of con servatives in Athens than that of minorities. That backdrop has understandably led to some defensiveness on the part of many who are active in Athens' local politics, who resent what they perceive as the hijacking of our local government process. That attitude was on full display at the committee meeting last week, as members pored over ACC vot ing data reaching back to 1996 with an eye toward analyzing minority participation. What they found was that Athens has a high rate of election turnout among registered non-white voters, which was cited as clear evidence that the existence of superdistricts hasn't harmed minority voting strength. That's ridiculous: one might just as well offer the same data as evidence that our Republican-gerrymandered state legislative districts have no such negative effect. Why would a progressive committee member like Gwen O'Looney, a former mayor whose alli ances in the black community are as strong and meaningful as those of any white politi cian Athens has ever known, draw such a faulty conclusion and suggest that it should be sufficient to put the issue of the superdis tricts firmly to rest? The answer, of course, is to get the ques tion off the table. Because those who frame it properly—as a matter of whether the overlaying of two districts with strong white majorities prevents minorities from being pro portionally represented on the commission— also tend to answer it too simply, using the assumption that white voters in Athens won't elect black candidates, which is far from abso lutely true. And with the dubious intent of the legislators hanging over the committee's deliberations, there's plenty of motivation for its members to dispense with the question quickly—even if that means failing to treat it with its due rigor and sincerity. So, we have people talking past each other on a personal level, which can be overcome with diligence and commitment from those involved in the conversations, and people fail ing to be honest with themselves and each other on a political level, which is going to be harder to resolve. What does all this show? Are we learning anything as we stare across the deep gap that divides our community? The only way we can is to start talking to each other with honesty, even if it's painful, and keep doing it, like the people at that com munity meeting last week. No, nothing got resolved that night, but with a few thousand more nights like it, you can bet something will. Dave Marr news@flagpole.com Reducing Traffic Flow on Prince Ave. Still a Divisive Proposition The Athens-Clarke County Planning Department held a third public presentation and input session on its Prince Avenue cor ridor study Dec. 12 at Piedmont College. The meeting distinguished itself from previous input sessions in that planning staff made a deliberate attempt to engage property and business owners along Prince Avenue, invit ing them to voice their opinions both formally and informally. Previous input sessions have attracted mainly neighborhood residents. Of the two corridor studies currently underway by Planning staff, the Prince study has garnered the lion's share of public interest to date, with a study of the Oak/Oconee corridor generating only 15 percent of comments received. Presenting formal comments were Jamey Thaw, CEO of Athens Regional Medical Center; Tim Burgess, senior vice president for finance and administration at the University of Georgia; and Doc Eldridge, executive direc tor of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. Thaw and Burgess spoke of the medical and academic engines that help drive the Athens economy, and the need to avoid impos ing restrictions on those components. Thaw encouraged the city to keep Prince Avenue four lanes for the sake of patient and ambu lance traffic, and not to impose restrictions that could discourage medical growth along the corridor. Burgess spoke of the Health Sciences Campus being developed on the for mer Normal School/ Navy Supply Corps School property, and the resultant medical growth that could be expected, which he said should be welcomed. The business community was represented by business and property owners and non-Prince Avenue developers, who were unanimous in their support of keeping Prince Avenue four lanes and who warned that a pro posed 10,000-square-foot limitation on medi cal offices was untenable. ACC planner Bruce Lonnee made the point that Prince Avenue is a series of nodes, each with its own distinct character that calls for stepped-down development. As an example, he noted the Athens Heart Center office, whose size is appropriate in its present location on Prince Avenue near Loop 10, but would not be appropriate in the downtown end of Prince Avenue. He introduced a new zoning classifi cation, Commercial-Neighborhood Established (CNE), that could be used on selected prop erties within the corridor to make sure that development is of a scale that is compatible with adjacent neighborhoods. Currently, medi cal offices are exempt from the professional office size limitation of 10,000 square feet. Avid Bookshop employee Rachel Watkins read comments from the store's owner, Janet Geddis, who advocated for improved crosswalk signage and slowing traffic, noting that many of Avid's customers are pedestrians who find it difficult and often dangerous to cross Prince. Most residents echoed her concerns and noted that while Prince Avenue is a major corridor, it is also an in-town street surrounded by neigh borhoods, and warrants measures to reduce vehicular speed and improve safety for pedes trians and cyclists. Residents also expressed concern that the sense of place along the cor ridor could be permanently altered if massive structures are encouraged to be built. Monday's meeting was the last scheduled public input session; comments on both cor ridor studies are still being accepted at www. athenscl3rkec0unty.com/planning. Amy Andrews A TovAjrJ 3 1 \ Pull ov/eR. j,X jawoA cootc ATsort»ETH/A/G; E JuSt'i TOPPED Five hWureS *2 CjnetJ Line * 1 DR.W6 CONG DISTANCES T ro Stop To Sf=.e Thim<»S Awd Sure. euovsh there SOWE GoATS QKJ THAT PAKJ6 30qF U DAVID WVAClc G.O.r,^ CAST TR\P \ TOOK. CUE STEPPED AT ^OATSQK/ THegOflP * /MT|4Ef?.6A A OtvJ THE. CJALC SAiO Th£ GOATS uJftRE AcrVACC^ ACIEMS 4 FLAGPOLE.COM -DECEMBER 21, 2011
