Whenever someone tries to beat Nikema Williams for not being a native of the city, she replies that her story is intrinsically Atlantean. Williams, who was elected in November to Congressman John Lewis’ former seat in Congress after his death last year, grew up at Smiths Station, just over Alabama’s Chattahoochee River, in a house with no indoor plumbing.
As a student at Talladega College, a small historically black school in Alabama, she and her friends drove to Atlanta for shopping and parties. Ms. Williams, a Democrat who recently served in the State Senate, saw elected representatives, business leaders, artists and black civil rights leaders. “You saw black people living the full promise of this country,” she said.
“I moved here without meeting anyone,” said Williams, “but I was able to get involved, get engaged and find my way.” But, she added, “we still have a lot to do.”
There has always been a chasm between the aspirations of the “Atlanta Mode” and the reality experienced by many residents.
“Atlanta is unique and has that particular way,” said Lee. “And yet, let’s be clear when we think about what it means: we have this reality and a kind of publicity and public relations campaign – and these are different things . ”
A series of events this year shed new light on the division.
One May night, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody sparked protests across the country, crowds in Atlanta smashed the windows of downtown businesses, vandalized the CNN Center and set a police car on fire. “What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference, repeated several times on local television and radio stations.
The demonstrations took on new vigor after Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, was shot dead by Atlanta police. Officers were called to a Wendy’s parking lot where, officials said, Brooks fell asleep in his car on the traffic lane. The city’s chief of police, Erika Shields, resigned, and the officer who shot Mr. Brooks was fired and charged with murder.