During the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Atlanta, Georgia, earned a reputation as a city where blacks and whites, the two major ethnic groups living there, could get along. It became known as the city that is too busy to hate and, later, as the capital of the New South. In recent years, however, Atlanta's population has become even more diverse as new immigrants from all over the world, attracted by the city's economic boom, have moved to the area. Contributing editor David Pitts explores the new face of Atlanta and looks at how the city and county governments, civil rights organizations, NGOs and committed individuals continue the struggle to make Atlanta a city that works for everyone.

You can feel the history just walking along the streets of this Southern city. In 1864, it was burned to the ground on the orders of General William Tecumseh Sherman after his Union troops captured it during their march through the vanquished states of the Confederacy, an event immortalized in the minds of moviegoers around the world in "Gone With The Wind." The restored home of Margaret Mitchell, the author of the book on which the movie was based, is a much visited attraction here.

In more recent decades, Atlanta became famous as the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the leader of the American civil rights movement. The Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the institution his widow, Coretta, built in his memory, stands next to the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached racial brotherhood at a time when it was controversial.

In many ways, Atlanta is a study in black and white -- of how two races, once far apart because of a legally imposed system of segregation, gradually learned to live together. It is a journey -- people here will remind you -- that is not yet complete.

The New Atlantans

In the Atlanta of the 1990s, however, "everyone" means more than just black and white Americans and, the language spoken here is no longer just English. Increasingly, long-term residents are living next door to Africans, Asians, Central and South Americans, and East Europeans. Atlanta is becoming a melting pot, the latest in a long line of American cities to become a mecca for immigrants.

Some of the newcomers are internal migrants from cities like Miami and New York, but many are immigrants and refugees whose first home in America is Atlanta. More than 450,000 immigrants and 65,000 refugees now live in metro Atlanta out of a total area population of three and one-half million, according to the Center for Applied Research and Anthropology at Georgia State University.

Vanessa Kosky, from Venezuela, speaks fluent English and helps new immigrants "mostly from Central and South America to get tags and titles for their cars." The Buford market is "a favorite gathering spot," she says, especially for Latinos "most of whom came here to take jobs in the construction trade, which are plentiful because of the building boom. They adjust very well; the main problem is learning English."

Sun Kim and Vanessa Kosky are part of the new face of Atlanta, a city much more cosmopolitan than it was just a few years ago. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that between 1990 and 1994, Atlanta's population grew by 11 percent. During the same period, the Hispanic and Asian populations grew by 42 percent. The number of East Europeans and Africans is growing even more rapidly. More than 5,000 Nigerians, for example, now live in Atlanta, one reason recent political developments in their homeland was front page news here. City officials say Atlanta's credentials as a leader in desegregation helped it establish a reputation for fairness and openness that is attractive to newcomers.

In the 1980s, the State Department picked Atlanta as one of the main cities to receive refugees. Preparations for the 1996 Olympics attracted additional numbers of immigrants in search of the jobs that came with it. Some stayed, many of them Hispanics -- over 240,000 now live here -- making Atlanta one of the most Hispanic cities in the United States.

A Booming Economy

"The explanation for the move of immigrants to Atlanta is the city's booming economy," says Kevin Hanna, president of the Atlanta Development Authority, a city agency. Attracting business and promoting economic growth "has helped enormously," to ensure that diversity works in a city that already had a reputation for welcoming minorities, he adds.

In this respect, Atlanta's record is second to none. According to Fortune magazine, the city led the nation during the 1990s in job creation. More than 700 of the nation's Fortune 1000 companies have operations here and 23 are headquartered here, among them Coca-Cola and Bell South. The world's broadcast news network, CNN, also counts the city as its home.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is working with elected local officials to make the city's pro-business climate even more attractive to companies wishing to locate here. Their initiatives are the basis of "Forward Atlanta," a five-year economic development marketing campaign that is worldwide in scope.

Much of the growth has been in Atlanta's suburbs, but the city also has benefited from the boom. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in a recent story titled "Central City Comeback," more than three dozen projects are rising in the center city or taking shape on developers' drawing boards and in corporate boardrooms.

"Atlanta is doing better than almost any other place," says Dr. Art Murphy of Georgia State University, an expert on new immigrants. "It has developed into an international city with a reputation for affordability, a hospitable environment for minorities and immigrants, and a high quality of life," he adds.

"Officials here realized long ago that business wants to locate to cities renowned for their quality of life as well as their commitment to economic progress," Hanna says. Top class universities, a flourishing arts community and plunging crime rates -- the lowest in 30 years -- all are important in attracting business and this in turn helps create an environment that is conducive to good relations among the ethnic groups which live here, he continues.

Reducing crime has been a particular focus of the local government, which, like some other cites such as New Orleans and New York, has sought to make its police force more professional and better equipped. Among the measures passed by the city council just this year was a $2,000 raise for police officers. Public safety programs account for almost 50 percent of the general fund budget. Much of that is for police and courts, but a significant portion also is expended on crime prevention and community relations, including relations with the new immigrant community.

Bridging the Gap

Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) also are involved in the city's community relations effort. Bridging the Gap is an NGO that particularly caters to new immigrants. "You have to reach out to these groups with special programs that help with everyday problems of adjusting to a new society and a new city," says Gail Hoffman, director of the organization, which was formed in 1994 and receives funding from both government and private foundations.

"For example, many of the new immigrants come from countries where they were afraid of the police and the government. That is why we began a program of workshops to help them understand the system here" and their democratic rights, Hoffman notes. In some of the countries from which the new immigrants came, the police force, for example, is a national organization in contrast to the United States, where it is municipally organized and responsible to elected local officials; for this reason, many new immigrants are suspicious of authority, she adds.

The Atlanta Police Department conducts a special outreach program on crime prevention measures for new immigrants.

Among the services that Bridging the Gap provides are: diversity training for local law enforcement, a bank of interpreters to help new immigrants who have not yet learned English, citizenship classes, crime prevention, and legal aid on immigration and other issues. The organization also convenes meetings among different ethnic groups in the city. Creating better understanding is a two-way street, says Hoffman. Long-term residents "also need to understand the cultures of the new immigrants and the value of them."

Some new immigrants also benefit from the city's commitment to affirmative action, initially begun as a means to achieve greater opportunities for women and African Americans. Currently, more than 800 businesses in Atlanta are certified as minority/female firms in 112 different areas, according to the mayor's office. This is in addition to federal and state affirmative action programs. "We take minority rights in Atlanta very seriously," a spokesperson for the city's Office of Contract Compliance remarked. "The set-aside program here was one of the first in the nation, dating back to the 1970s."

The Problems of Progress

Although Atlanta is clearly a city that works and in which overall living standards are rising, it is not without problems, some of them a direct result of its success.

A major problem, common to many U.S. cities, is the flight of the middle class -- both black and white -- to the suburbs in pursuit of a better quality of life and better local services. The city's loss of middle-class residents has resulted in a two- pronged income distribution with large numbers of low-income residents and a minority of relatively affluent residents. According to Research Atlanta, Inc., the city has a smaller percentage of households with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000 than any other large U.S. city except Miami and New Orleans.

Inner city poverty is a problem that has pre-occupied many of the city's mayors in recent years. It centers largely on the city's African American population on the western and southern side of the city, but also includes some new immigrants. Two years ago, current Mayor Bill Campbell, who is African American, re-convened the Atlanta Summit Against Poverty, which was initiated by former Mayor Maynard Jackson. But despite many initiatives by the city government and other organizations, the problem remains stubbornly intractable.

One trend that may help is the increasing tendency of major corporations here to eliminate suburban office locations in favor of consolidation of employment at their in-city locations. Bell South, for example, a communications giant, which has 100 office locations in the metro area, recently announced it is closing 75 outlying locations and consolidating operations within city boundaries.

"As we approach a new millennium, we must have a combined approach that works for everyone," says Campbell. "We must work long and hard to combine our talents, energy and resources to break the cycle of poverty and create a better quality of life for every Atlantan." Sources in the mayor's office say he realizes that it is not just a question of attacking the causes of inner-city poverty head on, but also improving city services, -- especially schools -- to lure more middle-class residents living in the suburbs back into the city.

For the Campbell administration, as for governments at all levels elsewhere, governing must be a careful balancing act -- responding to voters who have competing needs as well as the demands of special interests, such as business and labor. In this regard, taxes are a key issue. Local governments in the United States have taxing authority. Atlanta's quandary is common to many U.S. cities -- how to set local taxes high enough to pay for programs for people who need them, but low enough for people who don't, many of whom feel they already pay too much compared to their counterparts outside the city limits.

In addition to the uneven pattern of economic progress, the area also is tackling infrastructure problems that, if not surmounted, may hinder further development. According to the Washington Post, residents of burgeoning Atlanta spend more time in their cars than anywhere else in America, including Los Angeles. Each day, the newspaper reported the average metro-Atlantan drives 34 miles to get to work along crowded and congested freeways that have been getting worse.

A major cause of the problem, according to some observers, has been inadequate coordination among the 10 counties in the region and the city government, which is located in Fulton County. The infrastructure issue, perhaps more than any other, illustrates that local governments in modern societies cannot act in isolation, but must carefully coordinate with elected officials from adjacent jurisdictions.

Partnership with Regional, State and Federal Authorities

In the Atlanta area, the focal point of inter-jurisdictional cooperation and coordination is the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), which together with its predecessor agencies, has tackled planning efforts in the area since 1947 when Atlanta leaders created the first publicly supported, multi-county planning agency in the nation.

ARC provides a forum "where elected and appointed officials from these local governments, along with other community leaders, come together to address mutual challenges and opportunities," says Wayne Hill, ARC chairman. "With input from the community, the commission sets policies and resolves issues of regionwide consequence," he adds. The situation confronting new immigrants is such an issue since they live and work throughout the area, not just in the city. For example, DeKalb County, east of Atlanta, is particularly popular with new immigrants.

In addition to being a primary player on the ARC, the city also maintains a relationship with the state and federal government as well, particularly to take advantage of programs and grants they offer that might benefit Atlantans. For example, the city lobbied the federal government to be designated an Empowerment Zone. It was one of only six cities in the nation to be selected, which won Atlanta $250 million in grants and tax incentives. New housing and jobs are being created in the zoned, mostly poor, neighborhoods of the city.

Atlanta also has received a federal grant worth almost $13 million for community policing programs. In order to obtain a grant, a city usually is required to meet prescribed standards, and audits are conducted to ensure federal funds are spent as intended.

Speaking in January in his 1999 state of the city address, Mayor Campbell laid particular emphasis on the city's partnerships not only with other levels of government, but also NGOs. Atlanta has sought "to forge partnerships with every member of the Atlanta community, the city council, city employees, the private sector, the teachers, the unions, the clergy, the nonprofits, the neighborhoods, regional leaders, and also those agencies in the state and Washington that make a difference locally," he said.

One such partnership is the recently formed Atlanta Advisory Committee on Technology and Communications, a group that brings together experts from business, academia and the technology community. The purpose: to make local government smarter, particularly in the delivery of services, and to ensure that all Atlantans, including public school students, have access to technology. "Other than the civil rights movement, there is no more fundamental change in society than that which technology can and will bring about," Campbell says. "It can be the greatest equalizer that we have known."

A Vibrant Local Media

As in many cities, the most important local media in Atlanta are the affiliates of the four major commercial broadcast networks, which have extensive local news operations, and the city -- and state's -- major newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (which puts out two editions on weekdays), a progressive publication with a massive circulation of 1.5 million that has a long reputation for coverage of minority communities and promoting community cohesion.

Elected local officials in Atlanta, like their national counterparts, complain about the media, but an alert and active free press helps bring problems to the attention of the public and politicians, and helps build a consensus for action.

But occasionally, locally elected officials concede that the media's reporting of problems can be a plus. There has been at least one benefit from press reporting on freeway congestion, for example. According to city officials, middle-class suburbanites, tired of long commutes, are beginning to move back to the city where congestion is not as bad, partly because of MARTA, the city's mass transit system.

Don Melvin, a reporter at the Journal-Constitution, says local elected officials have to be concerned about what the media is reporting because of its influence with the public. The issues, pro and con, are covered as well as scandals and abuses that may occur. "Our role is essentially that of a watchdog," he adds.

Melvin, who has authored a number of stories of interest to new immigrants including a recent page one story on Nigeria, says the Journal-Constitution has featured "extensive coverage," of the newcomers. "We try very hard to paint an evolving portrait of the city, perhaps more than newspapers elsewhere," he adds.

In addition to the Journal-Constitution, there are now a number of local newspapers specifically aimed at new immigrants, such as Mundo Hispanico and Neyia, which report local news of interest as well as international developments in their countries of origin. A growing number of radio stations also cater to the newcomers.

Making Diversity Work

Atlanta is a case study in how a modern city can make diversity work. An aggressive, progressive independent local media is clearly one ingredient. But key is the commitment of the city, local governments in adjacent jurisdictions, and business and other groups -- particularly NGOs -- to fostering economic growth, a good quality of life, a high degree of safety and a welcoming attitude to newcomers.

The city's major problem, an urban underclass that has insufficiently enjoyed the fruits of economic success, is self evidently not unique to Atlanta. How to solve it is a topic of much debate here as well as elsewhere in the United States.

Talk to new immigrants in Atlanta about all of this and chances are few will offer detailed viewpoints. "I don't take a lot of interest in all the issues, partly because business is booming and I'm very busy," says Irina Levotov who came here from Russia and sells real estate mostly to other Russians. "But I love living here. It's a great place and people get along."

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