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View Full Version : Are Some Georgia Towns “Too White”?




eduardo89
04-19-2011, 11:47 PM
Lawsuit seeks dissolution of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hills

Suit says 'super-majority white neighborhoods' were created
March 28, 2011
By Katie Leslie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/news/lawsuit-seeks-dissolution-of-888729.html



he Georgia Legislative Black Caucus filed a lawsuit Monday against the state of Georgia seeking to dissolve the city charters of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills. Further, the lawmakers, joined by civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery, aim to dash any hopes of a Milton County.

The lawsuit, filed in a North Georgia U.S. District Court Monday, claims that the state circumvented the normal legislative process and set aside its own criteria when creating the “super-majority white ” cities within Fulton and DeKalb counties. The result, it argues, is to dilute minority votes in those areas, violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

“This suit is based on the idea that African Americans and other minorities can elect the people of their choice,” said Democratic State Sen. Vincent Fort.

The Office of the Governor and the Office of the Attorney General declined comment pending further review of the case.

Rep. Lynne Riley, R-Johns Creek, called the lawsuit “frivolous” and “disrespectful to the citizens of these cities who are most satisfied with their government.”


Now, that’s interesting. Apparently “African-Americans and other minorities can elect people of their choice”, but white people can't? Well, thank you, Senator, it's nice to know the law and voting rights apply to everyone the same....

sailingaway
04-20-2011, 12:02 AM
District gerrymandering is just one flavor of government corruption. There are so many flavors it gets pretty discouraging.

low preference guy
04-20-2011, 12:04 AM
District gerrymandering is just one flavor of government corruption. There are so many flavors it gets pretty discouraging.

I sort of disagree, because it makes what happens in a state election matter, as opposed to just having federal elections being important.

emazur
04-20-2011, 12:18 AM
I've been seeing similar assaults on whitey from other towns fairly recently - I think somewhere in CA and NY have been targeted

JCLibertarian
04-20-2011, 12:25 AM
ReasonTV did a video on one of the towns mentioned, Sandy Springs, and how they outsource road creation, traffic systems, and waste management to private contractors since they incorporated in 2004 with 92% of the vote. They now have no long term liabilities and are out of the mountain of debt they were in while being unincorporated in Fulton County


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8qFvo2qJOU

eduardo89
04-20-2011, 12:46 AM
Thanks for the video!

eduardo89
04-20-2011, 12:49 AM
I was looking up articles of cities privatizing services and came across this article:

Report: Privatizing trash pickup wouldn't save Scottsdale much (http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2010/08/27/20100827scottsdale-council-trash-privatization.html) - Guess who it's written by...city staffers lol


The report, compiled by city staffers, says curbside pickup would not benefit much from outsourcing, or hiring private firms to do the job in lieu of city workers.

Zatch
04-20-2011, 02:17 AM
Kyle Wingfield
Local privatization efforts get some national recognition

5:00 am April 13, 2011, by Kyle Wingfield

While members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus try to overturn the incorporation of several cities in Fulton and DeKalb counties through a federal lawsuit, one of those cities, Sandy Springs, is getting national recognition for its mostly privatized approach to government. This video from Reason.tv is worth watching in full:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8qFvo2qJOU

As for that lawsuit, and why it’s relevant to the Reason video:

My hunch is that the lawsuit has more to do with protecting public-sector jobs — many of which could become endangered if the north Fulton cities split off to form Milton County, shrinking Fulton’s tax base — than with protecting minority voters. After all, if racial minorities feel disenfranchised by being in these majority-white cities rather than in majority-minority Fulton and DeKalb, why did thousands of them flock to these very cities during the past decade?


http://blogs.ajc.com/kyle-wingfield/2011/04/13/local-privatization-efforts-get-some-national-recognition/?cxntfid=blogs_kyle_wingfield

Texan4Life
04-20-2011, 03:12 AM
ReasonTV did a video on one of the towns mentioned, Sandy Springs, and how they outsource road creation, traffic systems, and waste management to private contractors since they incorporated in 2004 with 92% of the vote. They now have no long term liabilities and are out of the mountain of debt they were in while being unincorporated in Fulton County


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8qFvo2qJOU

awesome

nobody's_hero
04-20-2011, 06:32 AM
What sucks is that the Voting Rights Act means the state can't do anything regarding redistricting without pre-clearance from the Federal D.O.J. What really sucks is that the VRA pre-clearance does not apply to all 50 states.

I've lived in Georgia for 24 years, and the most racist person I've ever met was actually from Pennsylvania.

So, while the GA legislature might just blow off this lawsuit, I wouldn't be surprised if the Federal government intrudes and tells these cities that their charters are revoked.