General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Rev Al just made a great point [View all]hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)and as much as you may wish it so, its residents have NOT faced up to its past. A plaque is hardly indicative and I posted videos you apparently did not watch that acknowledge that--not from decades ago but from 2020 and 2021 updates. That is really insulting to families of black people who faced generations of terrorism.
Just because (largely wealthy) white people are moving in by the droves due to its proximity to Atlanta will not make it so unless it does face up to its past. I dealt with that in Cobb and Cherokee Counties that have their own dark histories. Just because yuppies move in does NOT change things, though we see some movement in Georgia in general.
Look, Colorado has had to recognize its own racist past--not only with Sand Creek and the horrific history of Native American massacres, but with past KKK membership and racists among former Governors and Mayors. Denver and other areas have been undergoing a reckoning, with the membership of the KKK from many decades ago being recently published--much to the dismay of living ancestors. Monuments have been removed and names of prominent locales changed. Hell, our last airport, Stapleton International was named after the former racist Mayor Stapleton of Denver--no more. I've worked on committees that have effected such change--as well as the issue of renaming high school athletic teams and mascots in collaboration with recommendations made by local tribes. It is sometimes painful, but you don't move forward without examining and fully admitting the misdeeds of the past.
I can appreciate feeling defensive if you are a resident of Forsyth County. I was shocked and horrified by much that I learned about my state and my city's past in the last century and decades. If so, I'm sure you will work toward progress in Forsyth County as I have tried to do in Colorado. But, don't assume you are there. The facts are that that county has a very long way to go and only when AA feel comfortable returning in large numbers, which they have clearly NOT done, will things really have changed IMO.