Troy Davis’ fate in the shadow Tom Watson
If they ever doubted who’s in charge of the state of Georgia, protesters could glance behind the speakers at bronze statue of a wiry, agitated-looking little man at last night’s rally on behalf of the soon-to-be-executed Troy Davis.
Tom Watson — fists raised, as if ready to rain down on the heads of the speakers below him — holds a place of honor on the Capitol grounds. He guards the statehouse steps against the scalawag forces of wisdom, moderation and racial conciliation. This always galls me, but last night it seemed quite appropriate.
A one-time agrarian populist and racial liberal, Watson descended during the early 1900s to become Georgia’s most notorious racial demagogue. Those were among the darkest days of white brutality over whites, when lynchings became frequent occasions for picnics and celebrations across the South.
Watson actually had a very thin record of elected office. A frequent losing candidate on both the state and national stage, he served only one term in Congress and two years in the Senate. But he’s best known and reached the apex of his influence beginning in 1913, during the run-up to the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil factory manager who was convicted — almost certainly wrongfully — for the murder of a young girl who worked in his factory.
Through anti-Semitic speeches to white, working-class mobs and through his newspaper, The Jeffersonian, Watson stirred up wild hatred against Frank and against Jews in general. After Frank’s sentence was commuted by a moderate governor, Watson encouraged Frank’s lynching. And then, in 1915, a group of city fathers from Marietta hatched a successful plot to abduct Frank from prison in Milledgeville and to bring him up to Cobb County, where he was hanged from a tree.
I’m not equating Frank’s lynching to the scheduled execution tonight of Troy Davis. Davis’ conviction didn’t come under the shadow of overt racism or out-and-out jury intimidation. And Davis’ killing will not register as an extra-legal affair. In some ways, however, the state-sanctioned killing of a possibly innocent man is worse.
Nearly a century ago, the mob was screaming for Frank’s blood. Something like the opposite is true today. A motley crowd of perhaps 1,200 people came to last night’s rally — about one in every 10,000 Georgia residents.
More distressingly, much of crowd was comprised of marginalized radicals who stand so far outside the state’s mainstream that they have little meaningful impact on any public policy debate. One of the more thoughtful speakers, national NAACP President Ben Jealous, seemed to acknowledge that last night when he told the audience that it would be necessary to develop “broad, deep and uncomfortable coalitions” to bar the capital punishment in Georgia.
The sad truth is that no such coalition showed itself last night. Indeed, many of the comments on newspaper websites and among Facebook Friends inside the state ranged from outrage at witnesses who changed their stories since Davis’ conviction (rather than outrage that a possibly innocent man might lose his life) to a smug certainty that our justice system shouldn’t be questioned.
Tom Watson may not may be stirring up the rabble with demagogic speeches. But we’d be fools to look up at his silent scowl and his defiant to think that his spirit is not alive and well.
In the shadow Tom Watson, Troy Davis’ supporters await his fate
If they ever doubted who’s in charge of the state of Georgia, protesters could glance behind the speakers at bronze statue of a wiry, agitated-looking little man at last night’s rally on behalf of the soon-to-be-executed Troy Davis.
Tom Watson — fists raised, as if ready to rain down on the heads of the speakers below him — holds a place of honor on the Capitol grounds. He guards the statehouse steps against the scalawag forces of wisdom, moderation and racial conciliation. This always galls me, but last night it seemed quite appropriate.
A one-time agrarian populist and racial liberal, Watson descended during the early 1900s to become Georgia’s most notorious racial demagogue. Those were among the darkest days of white brutality over whites, when lynchings became frequent occasions for picnics and celebrations across the South.
Watson actually had a very thin record of elected office. A frequent losing candidate on both the state and national stage, he served only one term in Congress and two years in the Senate. But he’s best known and reached the apex of his influence beginning in 1913, during the run-up to the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil factory manager who was convicted — almost certainly wrongfully — for the murder of a young girl who worked in his factory.
Through anti-Semitic speeches to white, working-class mobs and through his newspaper, The Jeffersonian, Watson stirred up wild hatred against Frank and against Jews in general. After Frank’s sentence was commuted by a moderate governor, Watson encouraged Frank’s lynching. And then, in 1915, a group of city fathers from Marietta hatched a successful plot to abduct Frank from prison in Milledgeville and to bring him up to Cobb County, where he was hanged from a tree.
I’m not equating Frank’s lynching to the scheduled execution tonight of Troy Davis. Davis’ conviction didn’t come under the shadow of overt racism or out-and-out jury intimidation. And Davis’ killing will not register as an extra-legal affair. In some ways, however, the state-sanctioned killing of a possibly innocent man is worse.
Nearly a century ago, the mob was screaming for Frank’s blood. Something like the opposite is true today. A motley crowd of perhaps 1,200 people came to last night’s rally — about one in every 10,000 Georgia residents.
More distressingly, much of crowd was comprised of marginalized radicals who stand so far outside the state’s mainstream that they have little meaningful impact on any public policy debate. One of the more thoughtful speakers, national NAACP President Ben Jealous, seemed to acknowledge that last night when he told the audience that it would be necessary to develop “broad, deep and uncomfortable coalitions” to bar the capital punishment in Georgia.
The sad truth is that no such coalition showed itself last night. Indeed, many of the comments on newspaper websites and among Facebook Friends inside the state ranged from outrage at witnesses who changed their stories since Davis’ conviction (rather than outrage that a possibly innocent man might lose his life) to a smug certainty that our justice system shouldn’t be questioned.
Tom Watson may not may be stirring up the rabble with demagogic speeches. But we’d be fools to look up at his silent scowl and his defiant to think that his spirit is not alive and well.
EnvisionATL brainstorms highfalutin dreams for Atlanta
Filed under: GREEN BUILDING, POLITICS, SMART GROWTH
Get 200-plus civic-minded people together in a room, ask them to envision a “sustainable” city, and you can be sure of one outcome: They’ll come up with some high-minded ideas.
The ultimate question, of course, is how — or whether — anyone will ever convert those dreams into reality. But that’s not the question that the EnvisionATL brainstormers were trying to answer Tuesday, Scott Briskey of Sustainable Atlanta, the nonprofit that organized the event, insisted toward the end of the three-hour session.
Read the rest at Green Building Chronicle.
This photo shows modern Atlanta’s development
This photo illustrates how Atlanta has developed in the modern age.
Background: Cool view of the downtown skyline
Foreground: Ugly parking lot marring otherwise nice view
I walk all over town and take tons of photos exactly like this. In the distance, a really great view of the skyline — including some distinctive buildings that are Atlanta’s urban calling card — but right in front of you, some modern monstrosity that completely eclipses whatever you’re looking at.
In some ways, it’s even more jarring in Buckhead where you’ll see ultra-modern skyscapers on one more corner, and across the street an old-school Rooms to Go with acres of parking out front.
I was recently at the new location of the Atlanta Press Club at 191 Peachtree Street. And the view from the 49th floor is quite interesting; intellectually you know Centennial Olympic Park is a hop, skip and a jump from Peachtree but it’s amazing how close they are when seen from up high. On the ground? Just feels farther, probably because some of the streetscaping you pass on your way to the park is hideous.
But otherwise, everything is great! Have a nice weekend.
Perkins+Will+Salvador Dali
A view from the new Perkins+Will office at the High Museum: Someone's looking back.
Perkins+Will architects Bruce McEvoy and Paula Vaughan took me on the layman’s tour just before Thanksgiving of what may be Atlanta’s most significant renovation of the year.
Their firm’s new building, directly across from the High Museum, used to be an early 1980s oddity with a glass facade that stair-stepped between concrete supports. Not only was that western face an invitation to solar frying, but the building’s Peachtree Street presence was basically a wide, cobblestone driveway into a parking deck that occupied the first floor.
After a gut job so thorough that the building’s tracking Platinum for LEED Building Design and Construction, those two bizarre features have become strengths. Check out the photo tour and my article about it on GreenBuildingChronicle.com.
L.A. leaving Atlanta behind transit-wise?
I sometimes console myself about Atlanta’s transit woes by comparing our city to Los Angeles. No one doubts L.A. is a great, world city, even though it does not have a comprehensive subway system like New York or Boston or London.
But now I read in The New York Times that Los Angeles is making SERIOUS investments in extending its existing subway system and also building a light rail system.
Argh!
In Los Angeles, Big Step Ahead for Mass Transit
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: November 25, 2010
The auto-obsessed city has embarked on the biggest expansion of its mass transit system in decades.
Read the story here.
I’m thankful for Sarah Palin’s turkey slaughter video
As we head into the holiday season and think about those things that we are thankful for, there are certain traditions in which we and our families all partake.
Let’s place near the top of the list our enjoyment of this 2008 Thanksgiving video by then-Gov. Sarah Palin. It has become a seasonal rite around our holiday to watch this interview — and I hope it will become a seasonal rite for yours as well. For the few of you who hadn’t seen this video before, the interview took place after Ms. Palin had pardoned one turkey inside and stepped outside into the slaughtering area.
What are you thankful for?
Atlanta, mid to late Fall
How gorgeous is this city in the Fall? Oh I say pretty darn gorgeous.
Oh and gobble gobble Happy Thanksgiving a little early!
Hungry? Head here today
Look, let’s be honest. You’re already eating as if it were Thanksgiving. So why not go see Miss D. at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market near downtown Atlanta and grab some of her delightful popcorn?
Oh this is no ordinary popcorn. She combines butter, cheese and I think maybe brown sugar or caramel with hot popcorn, and oh it’s addictive!
When I arrived at the market last Friday for lunch, I was heading to Ciao Bocca, the Italian lunch counter I’ve written about. But you see Miss D. as soon as you enter the market, and I’m powerless to say no to popcorn. Also, Miss D. is quite persuasive! Just look at that face (above)!
So popcorn was my appetizer. Here was my main dish, courtesy of Deborah at Ciao Bocca:
The soup and sandwich combo can’t be beat.
I write about Italian food on another blog, and like to leave general food blogging to the pros (for example: The Blissful Glutton).
I mention Sweet Auburn Curb Market on this blog because a central market is a key part of any city. I mention it because the market is a place where you can hang out. You can see what the vendors have, maybe grab a coffee at Cafe Campesino, look at books at the new book stall, chit-chat with other shoppers about the news. And maybe catch a flick (Ciao Bocca and Grindhouse Killer Burgers both project movies at their lunch counters).
Atlanta’s only public market is a work in progress. And it’s a work in progress that I like to observe regularly. So I like to make it a destination on Fridays. As a freelance writer often working at home, I can feel isolated. Going to the market allows me to take a break and do something that humans have been doing for centuries — shop at the market.
Enjoy!
R.I.P. Lenny’s
I hate to hear that any local business is closing, and I went to Lenny’s once and in terms of trying to channel CBGB’s, yeah, it was a good place.
In a story on Creating Loafing’s site, Chad Radford quoted the owner as saying the business has been suffering because it doesn’t have a booking agent for musical acts.
That’s probably the reason the owner has decided to forego a liquor license and de facto call it quits.
But, here’s a thought: how awful is the location? See it in all of its glory in the photo above.
I know, I know: hipsters like gritty, industrial spots. But this place doesn’t scream Last Chance Saloon in the Edward Hopper vein.
This screams: dead-end, not-going-anywhere, developers-couldn’t-bother-to-build-a-nice-shopping-center, city-couldn’t-bother-to-ensure-new-developments-are-not-eye-sores, now-I’m-going-to-off-myself-but-it-may-not-even-work-and-I’ll-survive-but-in-bad-shape.
There’s also the fact that it’s actually a bit tough to find.
From walking around that area a lot, I have the impression many people proceed south on Boulevard and don’t know where to turn (actually it’s not a turn, it’s a veer-off onto the weird elevated part of the road that leads to DeKalb Avenue). And once you miss the turn, it’s not easy to find your way back.
Just my two cents!
Hopefully Lenny’s is able to hire a booking agent and stay afloat. The Historic District Shopping Center may find it hard to fill that space with another tenant.
Check it out!
A new media venture on sustainable design and construction in Atlanta.