Free Republic

Mayor Shirley Franklin's reputation as a consensus builder is being tested by the racially divisive debate over renaming Atlanta's major airport. The issue has become more contentious as the city grapples with a campaign to take the name of a legendary white mayor, William B. Hartsfield, off the airport and replace it with the name of the city's first African-American mayor, Maynard Jackson Jr. "This has hit a chord unlike anything I've seen in Atlanta in a long time," said William Boone, political scientist with Clark Atlanta University. "The issue is such a polarizing question. Shirley's had to walk through...

Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first black mayor, cast a huge shadow Tuesday over his white predecessors as the campaign to rename Atlanta's airport developed into raw racial politics. "This really shouldn't be about what the white business establishment would allow," said state Rep. "Able" Mable Thomas, a former Atlanta City Council member. "It's really what the strength of the African-American community will allow. What will we stand for? The real deal is we stood too long silent. Atlanta is being gentrified every day. So, while you do still have a majority, as Maynard would say, use the power you have today."...