"Racial tone clouds issue of changing Hartsfield name"

Saturday, August 2, 2003

Racial tone clouds issue of changing airport name 
By D.L. BENNETT 
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution 


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 some
minefields and tackle some tough issues, but this is unique.

"If she were asking me today what to do, I wouldn't know what to say," Boone
said.

For Sam Massell, who served as mayor before Jackson was elected in 1973 and
who gave Hartsfield airport its current name, observers should not be
surprised at the public debate so far.

"But it is unfortunate that it borders on being a racial argument," Massell
said. "Let's hope that all men of goodwill understand that this is a
business decision that happens to be in a political arena. You surely can't
call her [Franklin] a racist, no matter what she says or does. I am
comfortable in Shirley Franklin guiding this issue."

The first public hearing on how to honor Jackson and former Mayor Ivan Allen
Jr., both of whom died recently, turned into a racially charged rally in
favor of renaming the airport for Jackson. Letters and e-mails, meanwhile,
have overwhelmingly opposed the change.

Even so, the mayor said she believes the debate hasn't gotten out of hand.

"If you just look at the letters and the results of one public hearing, you
can see it as racially divisive," Franklin said. "I don't see it as that
yet. It's potentially racially divisive. We have 60 days to let the issue
run its course."

A 17-member commission created by the mayor -- eight whites, eight blacks
and one Asian -- will advise the City Council in September on how it should
honor Jackson and Allen. The council will vote on the panel's
recommendations. Jackson was credited with expanding Hartsfield Atlanta
International Airport during his 12 years in office and using the airport to
create business opportunity for African-Americans. He died June 23.
Hartsfield, who died in 1971, served 23 years as mayor and long has been
credited with presiding over the early development of the airport into a
major transportation hub.

Franklin said she will rely on the commission to filter the heated debate.
Despite the harsh tenor of Tuesday's hearing, the mayor said she will not
intervene in the panel's deliberations.

"I have done what I am going to do -- appoint a diverse commission that
reflects a broad spectrum," Franklin said. "I am now awaiting their
recommendation."

Franklin also said she is not focusing on any potential political fallout
from the controversy. "I don't know what impact it will have on me
personally or politically," the mayor said.

Franklin must weigh the wishes of the predominantly African-American
electorate that put her in office and the strong sentiment among whites
whose confidence and support she has increasingly gained.

Franklin has recruited consulting firms and business leaders to become more
involved with city hall issues. Like the current one, she has created
diverse panels to help deal with city problems and hired more white
officials at city hall.

Other issues come up

Some of her actions, however, have been attacked by African-American
leaders, such as her support of white residents around Chastain Park who
sought limits on the use of the popular concert facility. Some blacks viewed
the limits as a way to keep them from the park.

Franklin, a protégée and close friend of Jackson, has been getting public
and private pressure to join the clamor supporting a "Maynard Jackson
International Airport."

The mayor said the issue gets raised often by people she meets on the street
as well as friends and political advisers. Even Jackson's widow, Valerie,
has vowed to see that the airport bears her husband's name.

But the mayor has refused to express an opinion on how Jackson should be
honored. Instead, she encouraged Atlanta to work through the commission.

Some African-American leaders have suggested that Franklin can solidify her
support among the group by acting decisively to honor Jackson.

The Rev. Timothy McDonald, the president of Concerned Black Clergy,
suggested Franklin may be worrying too much about the how the decision would
be received in the white business community.

During the hearing Tuesday, speaker after speaker urged Atlanta's black
elected officials to rename the airport for Jackson regardless of any
offense to Hartsfield or whites.

"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."

The mayor, who did not attend the hearing, would not comment on Thomas'
observations or those of others.

On Friday, Massell said, "Hartsfield is the identity of Atlanta aviation,
and I don't think that should be diluted. There is ample opportunity to give
recognition to every mayor down through the years. I do not think there
should be any dilution to Hartsfield's legacy at the airport."

And Massell is not alone in that sentiment.

"I think Hartsfield is a nationally known name, and I think it was named
after the gentleman rightfully so and should not just be taken away from
him," said Kathy Brown of Woodstock.

"I can think of no landmark more appropriately named than Hartsfield Atlanta
airport," said Harvey Brickley of Atlanta. "The honor bestowed on him in the
naming of the airport should not be diminished by adding another person's
name."

Ira Joe Johnson, an African-American author and government consultant, urged
both sides to tone down the rhetoric, even though he wants the airport
renamed for Jackson.

"The last thing Maynard wanted to do was be divisive," Johnson said. "We
should be deliberative about this and listen to everybody and then rename
it, and not because we can but because it's the right thing to do."

The tone of the debate also has turned off residents. James Wiley, a Decatur
architect, said he is surprised and disappointed that the debate has turned
into a racial issue.

"So much of everything that goes on in Atlanta has always been about race,"
said Wiley, who has lived in the area since 1971. "I was surprised at how
blatant the racism is."

Wiley said the airport, like the flag debate before it, is another example
of how a seemingly minor issue can impact a lot of people.

"So much energy is wasted that could be spent on things that can make a real
difference, like education, crime and poverty," Wiley said.

Mayor optimistic

The harshness of the debate has City Council members on edge as they prepare
to consider get the committee's recommendation.

Council member Carla Smith said race colors much of the debate in Atlanta
and this issue has forced the city confront it head on.

"There's race in everything," Smith said. "If you say it's not, you are
either ignoring it or lying. We have created a process. We need to follow it
and see what comes out of it."

The mayor said she believes the tension eventually will ease and a sound
recommendation will emerge that can be embraced by all of Atlanta. Franklin
stressed that she represents everyone and that she appointed a commission to
reflect that.

"I am very confident this is going to work out for the best interests of the
city and to the satisfaction of the majority of the residents," Franklin
said. "This is a healthy part of the process. There probably are no right
answers."


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