Hmmmmm, this week's topic finally gave me an excuse to find something out that I have wondered about for the last three years, and please excuse the lack of organization and research paper guidelines...my college days are SO done.
First, a little background: As I was driving in the realtor's car in Cumming, Georgia, having just one weekend to find a home on my first trip to this state, I made a comment to the realtor: "I'm really excited to experience the world. I have lived in Utah my entire life. Nearly every person I've met and known has not only been Mormon, but has also been white. I can't wait for my kids to grow up with some diversity...ya know, the 'real world'."
He paused for a moment and replied, "Um, normally I wouldn't say this, but you have just asked me to drive to a house (that I had found over the internet knowing NOTHING about the area) that is in Forsyth County. You'll definitely find diversity in religion, but not in race. Oprah even did some kind of show from there on racism."
I wasn't sure what he meant....after all, this is Atlanta, Georgia...or a suburb at least...there has to be more people of color than in Utah. I found the house of my dreams, in the neighborhood of my dreams, and we moved our little family across the country...to Forsyth County, Georgia.
So, after three years here I've learned that the realtor was right. I experienced more race diversity teaching at Farmington Junior High (which was 99% Mormon and 97% white among 1,200 kids) than I have here. So, what was that "Oprah Show?" What went on in this county? This is what I learned:
A reputation for racial intolerance plagued Forsyth County during the twentieth century. In 1912 the rape of a young white woman by three African American males sparked a campaign among the white population to rid Forsyth County of all African Americans. For almost a month, gangs of night riders harassed and intimidated the black population into moving out of the county.
While it is unknown how many African Americans moved as a direct result of the purge, by 1930 only 17 blacks resided in Forsyth County compared with almost 1,100 in 1910. In 1987 (1987...I didn't even realize how RECENT it all was) racial tensions again erupted in Forsyth County. In January a small march in Cumming to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday met with resistance from local members of the KKK, who threw stones and glass bottles at the demonstrators. The event received national attention, and on January 24, 20,000 marchers from around the country converged on Forsyth County. Led by numerous civil rights leaders, the marchers encountered 1,000 to 2,000 counterdemonstrators, but the presence of large numbers of police and National Guard troops most likely kept the event from turning violent. The event was one of the largest civil rights demonstrations since the 1960s and generated so much national attention that talk-show host Oprah Winfrey taped a show the following month in Cumming about the events.
In 1987, Oprah packed up the show and headed south to Forsyth County, Georgia, a place where not one black person had lived in 75 years. The Forsyth County Defense League was a white supremacist group established in 1987 (1987...really?????) in Cumming, Georgia, to counter efforts by Atlanta City Councilperson Hosea Williams, to integrate all-white Forsyth County. The group and its successor Nationalist Movement have won some prominent court battles on behalf of members' rights to support discrimination against non-whites, to march and to meet in public buildings. During the show, an explosion of racism ensued with the "n" word used over and over again to Winfrey.
Forsyth County, I learned is the second-fastest growing county in the nation in the 1990s. Forsyth in the 2000 census is still 92 percent white and its growth is mostly explained by the droves of white people moving in. For every single black person and every 10 Hispanics new to Forsyth in the 1990s, there were 100 new white residents.
The completion of Georgia Highway 400 (which I live right off, almost into Dawson County) in the 1980s turned Forsyth County into a suburb of Atlanta, further encouraging population growth. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the county's population was 98,407 (95 percent white, 0.7 percent black, and 5.6 percent Hispanic), an increase of 123.2 percent from the 1990 census. The county remains one of the most racially homogenous in the state.
So, this answered a lot of questions that I've had. I really wanted to know the history of this city and county. It's crazy to be in a place that you didn't grow up learning about. When I'm in Salt Lake going down Bangerter Highway, I can tell you exactly who that road is named after, but I moved to a strange place, and I knew nothing about it. I love it here, but I do hate that it has an ugly past (and present). I have even blogged about my racist neighbors before. My husband works much closer to Atlanta and has the opportunity to meet fabulous people of every color. Last year I had his co-worker's daughter come and spend her Spring Break with me and the girls. I wondered why my neighbors weren't so nice. I wondered why we got strange looks at the neighborhood family go-cart place...and guess what? I love it that I ruffled some feathers! I will teach my children tolerance. Good people are good and bad people are bad, and skin color means NOTHING....even in Forsyth County, Georgia.
12 comments:
Well said. Racism has no place in society at all, in my opinion.
That is a remarkable and unbelieveable story. I learned a lot and I totally agree with you when you say that good people are good and bad people are bad, regardless of color. This world is crazy. I so hope that I can come visit you someday soon. You need post some pictures of your house. Or just email me! I would love to see where you live! Love you and miss you so much!!!
Thanks for your research. I knew the basics of Forsyth county history but not the specifics. It's amazing that in the 21st century this kind of segregation still exists. Hopefully as more people like you move into the community we'll be able to have a positive effect on its attitudes.
Oh, my - what a place! Good for you for teaching your children tolerance and acceptance. It's a little disturbing to hear about Forsyth County. I had no idea places like that still existed outside certain compounds in isolated locations in the U.S. I'm glad you're bringing a little diversity into the neighbourhood! Nice post.
I remember you telling me a lot about that stuff when you had settled in. I also remember that Oprah show. It's too bad, but it's a lot more common than people know or even think. Hopefully as time goes on the bad will weed out.
I completely agree with you about getting out of Utah, Utah is a great place, but there is nothing like moving out to get your eyes wide open.
I can't believe that this kind of thing happens. It is crazy to me!!! Very interesting post. I'm glad that your little family is a good example.
Wow, thank you for writing this. I had no idea, but it explains a lot of things for me.
I live in Cobb County, Georgia, but it's not much different than Forsyth as far as racial diversity goes.
Hi, I found this blog while I was doing some research on Hosea Williams. Like you I live in Georgia and I am of a US citizen of European descent. I am an antiracist and student of the "whole" of US history. I want to share one thing with you. It is the history of men of African descent in this country being accused of raping "white" women. From the period after slavery had ended until the late 1940's the accusations of "rape" and "assault" were often times leveled against a man for simply brushing up against a woman, or as in the case of Emmit Till "sassing" a white woman, or many times for nothing at all. Trying to educate yourself is commendable,I have something for you to think about. If Black men were such a danger to white women, why then was it not until after Black men were free that they began to "rape" and "assault" white women? During slavery Black men lived in much closer proximity to white women and certainly had all of the same opportunities to "rape" white women if they were the "animals" that they were accused of being. These charges against Black men were rarely substantiated and also rarely prosecuted,they usually ended in lynchings, unless the accused was able to get out of town immediately, often times leaving everything and everyone behind. These accusations were often made when it was thought that a Black man did not know his "place," it was an attempt to keep the recently freed Black men from competing in business with white men.
I live in Cherokee county Ga. In the very next county, but my grandfather grew up in forsyth. There use to be a sign on the county line that said No Blacks. Obviously, my grandfather was a little racist. My dad grew up in Atlanta during the race riots there. He taught me tolerance. Cherokee county is a lot more diversified now. And I love it!
I grew up in forsyth county after all the Oprah stuff had past. I graduated from Forsyth Central High School in 2002. It is my understanding that this prominent town that I loved and called my own is now becoming more racially diverse, coincidentally, the crime rate has skyrocketed. There were more accounts of murder, rape, drug use, and victimization of innocent people last year than in the five years before. Tell me that its just a coincidence. I think not. When a town or city becomes more diverse in race, IF MORE BLACKS AND MEXICANS MOVE IN THERE WILL BE MORE CRIME! The numbers dont lie.
I heard the scary stories too and still got a job in Forsyth County. Good news, diversity is increasing as well as tolerance, but it still has a long way to go.
I was here in 1986 and I still live here in Forsyth County. It is a beautiful place to live raise a family. Schools are excellent.
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