The Best Of The Drifts - The First Hate

Originally published January 25, 2007

In Which I Hate On Everyone

I have a terrible temper. I was talking with a friend about it just the other day. She also has a terrible temper. We both laughed as we discussed having to consciously control our urges to fly off the handle. The one thing we didn't talk about is the slow burn. You sort of snicker at a comment. Then you think about it later. Pretty soon the thought consumes all others. You only suffer the final blow up if the situation which lit the fuse continues.

When the Milton County / Vincent Fort kerfluffle began, I approached it with cold logic attempting to bypass the racial rhetoric to address what I believe to be the actual problem. I didn't know at the time but the fuse was lit. Now I'm madder than a baby with a loaded diaper. I pretty much want to drag all the combatants into a room and give everyone a swift kick in the ass.

So here we go...

To the Atlanta Legislative Caucus, Fulton County Commission, Atlanta City Council, etal:

Do you ever step back and ask yourself if what you are doing is actually serving the people? I would love to ask about serving the region, but hell let's start with the small steps. It is your history of not showing no willingness to come to the table that led to the formation of the city of Sandy Springs. We all now reap the fruit from that poison tree. Your mule headed intransigence has led every separatists group in the metro area to believe brinksmanship is the only tactic in discussing resource and revenue issues. Constituents questioning your wisdom on appropriating their tax dollars is not inherently racist. Even when the constituents are, God forbid, white. Blood on the walls? A chair race that could throw us back to the dark ages of fire hoses and police dogs? There is a proud history of leadership in this city, this county, this region. Somehow that leadership has lost its way in the past ten years. The current leaders better find that way again or someone will come along and show them the way out the door.

To North Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett and all the other enclaves outside downtown:

Your whine is showing with your cheese. You bitch about lack of services and high taxes. Well, I have visited your shangra-la of the ways thing should be. What I didn't see were houses burning to the foundation because all the fire trucks are in south Fulton. What I didn't see was little old ladies dying in the gutter because all the defibrillators are in south Fulton. What I did see were plenty of sidewalks and fairly good roads (adding more lanes as we speak). What I did see was uncontrolled sprawl with strip malls devouring the remaining trees. What I did see were new cities, these havens of good service, immediately deciding to waste money trying to shut down porn kings and forcing businesses in good standing to reapply for licenses via new onerous bureaucratic processes.

It is your history, stretching from Cobb County's proposal to require residence identification before boarding the county transit system to Gwinnett County's stupid refusal to allow MARTA access while the DOT continues to slap down new lanes on I-85, which created the black eyes you now suffer. You want to enjoy all the benefits of Atlanta, from Grady's trauma center where your 16 year old is treated after wrapping the new SUV around a tree to Chastain where you can chatter your way through quiet acoustic melodies, but God knows don't actually associate yourself with being Atlanta. The only people in this world who still believe you can have all the chocolate without the bellyache are three year olds. Grow up.

To the national media, blogs, etal:

You don't know us. You think you do but you don't. Here's some things to help you. While adults were throwing rocks at children in Boston, Atlanta and surrounding counties were quietly using busing and minority to majority programs to peacefully integrate schools. While African-Americans in such citadels of enlightenment as Detroit continue to try to push a single toe into the pool of economic growth, Atlanta has one of the fastest growing African-American middle classes in the country. Yet, you will take the easy way out by painting us as a bunch of gun-totin', Confederate flag wavin', banjo pickin' stump jumpers who probably need another good burning by General Sherman. My grandma had a saying. Sweep around your own stoop before spitting snuff on someone else's. Well, y'all out there in the "cultured" part of the world just keep on with your preaching. My stoop is swept and my mouth is full of chaw.

2007 and we still have to go through this crap. Shame on us all.