Pleas for Maynard Jackson
Mayor's widow, crowd push to rename airport
By D.L. BENNETT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A strident, focused drive to rename Atlanta's airport for the city's first black mayor overwhelmed a mayoral panel on Tuesday.
The 17-member panel was supposed to try to reach a consensus on the proper honors for former Mayors Maynard Jackson and Ivan Allen Jr. But they gave up rather than start deliberations after 2 1/2 hours of passionate lobbying to rename Hartsfield International Airport for Jackson.
"I'm worried about getting everyone together again," said A.D. "Pete" Correll, committee co-chairman and CEO of Georgia-Pacific. "I'm going to have to start on that tomorrow."
The Atlanta Advisory Commission will now have to meet one more time to discuss the members' own opinions before the panel makes a recommendation Sept. 12.
Their own suggestions split from the narrow interests of Tuesday's crowd. Nine suggested a planned international concourse expansion be named for Jackson. Six recommended the airport by renamed in some way. Members were asked before Tuesday's gathering to submit suggestions by e-mail. The committee, created by Mayor Shirley Franklin, had already received about 5,000 written suggestions and heard from more than two dozen speakers. The written suggestions covered a wide spectrum of possibilities for both men.
The group had budgeted three hours of work on Tuesday, divided evenly between public comment and discussions among committee members. The hearing, though, drew more than 250 people to Atlanta City Hall, and the panel was reluctant to cut them off when 90 minutes elapsed and speakers became repetitive.
So, speaker after speaker joined the chorus with a united voice: rename the airport Jackson International Airport.
The airport was named for William B. Hartsfield after he died 32 years ago. He championed Atlanta as an air center when most were focused on ground transportation. Jackson, who died June 23, oversaw a huge airport expansion and used that project to break the grip of white contractors on city projects.
The rhetoric Tuesday was toned down from the racially forceful language that flowed at a similar meeting last month. But speakers were more adamant that only one recommendation would be acceptable: taking Hartsfield's name off the airport and replacing it with Jackson's.
Valerie Jackson, the three-term mayor's widow, urged people to put aside anger and frustration that has characterized the debate. "Some of the things that have been said hurt and shocked me," she said.
Jackson didn't take the microphone until two hours into the session. She spoke in measured tones, slowing to choke back emotions.
"How ironic and punitive it would be to deny him the one honor he would like to have," Jackson said. "This is more than a widow's wish."
Bernard Porche, past president of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, said simply the airport renaming "shouldn't be about race-baiting. It's about progress."
But the racial divide was clear. Only about a dozen white faces were among a crowd of about 250. That's five times the crowd that showed up for the first public hearing. The only three speakers on Hartsfield's behalf were white.
One, former Councilman Doug Alexander, was hooted down by the huge crowd when he continued longer than his allotted time and wasn't saying what people wanted to hear.
"He [Hartsfield] put us on the path to where we are today," Alexander said. "We shouldn't forget that."
Allen, who guided Atlanta through the civil rights era, was a mere afterthought. His name was rarely mentioned, with most saying they didn't know much about him. Committee members' own suggestions were wildly divided.
Mattie Jackson of southeast Atlanta reminded the crowd that during her early years she couldn't come in the front door of City Hall. She stressed that racism is alive and well and the airport should be renamed for Jackson. "Maynard was our Moses," Jackson said.
Julie Borders of northeast Atlanta was a rare dissenting voice. Borders noted that her grandfather has a street named after him and worried that name changes wiping away history might one day affect her family. "I'm not sure renaming an airport or a street does him justice," Borders said.
AJC story
Mayor's widow, crowd push to rename airport
By D.L. BENNETT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A strident, focused drive to rename Atlanta's airport for the city's first black mayor overwhelmed a mayoral panel on Tuesday.
The 17-member panel was supposed to try to reach a consensus on the proper honors for former Mayors Maynard Jackson and Ivan Allen Jr. But they gave up rather than start deliberations after 2 1/2 hours of passionate lobbying to rename Hartsfield International Airport for Jackson.
"I'm worried about getting everyone together again," said A.D. "Pete" Correll, committee co-chairman and CEO of Georgia-Pacific. "I'm going to have to start on that tomorrow."
The Atlanta Advisory Commission will now have to meet one more time to discuss the members' own opinions before the panel makes a recommendation Sept. 12.
Their own suggestions split from the narrow interests of Tuesday's crowd. Nine suggested a planned international concourse expansion be named for Jackson. Six recommended the airport by renamed in some way. Members were asked before Tuesday's gathering to submit suggestions by e-mail. The committee, created by Mayor Shirley Franklin, had already received about 5,000 written suggestions and heard from more than two dozen speakers. The written suggestions covered a wide spectrum of possibilities for both men.
The group had budgeted three hours of work on Tuesday, divided evenly between public comment and discussions among committee members. The hearing, though, drew more than 250 people to Atlanta City Hall, and the panel was reluctant to cut them off when 90 minutes elapsed and speakers became repetitive.
So, speaker after speaker joined the chorus with a united voice: rename the airport Jackson International Airport.
The airport was named for William B. Hartsfield after he died 32 years ago. He championed Atlanta as an air center when most were focused on ground transportation. Jackson, who died June 23, oversaw a huge airport expansion and used that project to break the grip of white contractors on city projects.
The rhetoric Tuesday was toned down from the racially forceful language that flowed at a similar meeting last month. But speakers were more adamant that only one recommendation would be acceptable: taking Hartsfield's name off the airport and replacing it with Jackson's.
Valerie Jackson, the three-term mayor's widow, urged people to put aside anger and frustration that has characterized the debate. "Some of the things that have been said hurt and shocked me," she said.
Jackson didn't take the microphone until two hours into the session. She spoke in measured tones, slowing to choke back emotions.
"How ironic and punitive it would be to deny him the one honor he would like to have," Jackson said. "This is more than a widow's wish."
Bernard Porche, past president of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, said simply the airport renaming "shouldn't be about race-baiting. It's about progress."
But the racial divide was clear. Only about a dozen white faces were among a crowd of about 250. That's five times the crowd that showed up for the first public hearing. The only three speakers on Hartsfield's behalf were white.
One, former Councilman Doug Alexander, was hooted down by the huge crowd when he continued longer than his allotted time and wasn't saying what people wanted to hear.
"He [Hartsfield] put us on the path to where we are today," Alexander said. "We shouldn't forget that."
Allen, who guided Atlanta through the civil rights era, was a mere afterthought. His name was rarely mentioned, with most saying they didn't know much about him. Committee members' own suggestions were wildly divided.
Mattie Jackson of southeast Atlanta reminded the crowd that during her early years she couldn't come in the front door of City Hall. She stressed that racism is alive and well and the airport should be renamed for Jackson. "Maynard was our Moses," Jackson said.
Julie Borders of northeast Atlanta was a rare dissenting voice. Borders noted that her grandfather has a street named after him and worried that name changes wiping away history might one day affect her family. "I'm not sure renaming an airport or a street does him justice," Borders said.
AJC story
