will the next mayor of Atlanta be white?

Not all of the votes are counted, but the race is getting closer for the next mayor of Atlanta. Thirty six years of Black mayors since the ascension of Maynard Jackson to the office may end tonight. As of this post Mary Norwood is leading Kasim Reed in the runoff election to see who the city will elect.

However, the thought arises as to whether the Black citizens of Atlanta really care that tonight may end the 36 year reign of Black faces in the mayor’s office. Since the election of President Barack Obama, and the disappointment expressed by many in the president’s urgency on healthcare and his snails pace towards recovering jobs, leaves many Blacks in Atlanta that I've spoken with caring little about the ethnicity of the mayoral candidates and more interested in who will do the best job.

Polls in the “whiter” areas of Atlanta seem to suggest just the opposite. Like the fervor behind the election of Barack Obama for president, whites seem to be pouring out and voting heavily for Mary Norwood. It could be argued that whites are purely voting for Norwood on race alone since she could be considered part of the problems with the city of Atlanta. Norwood has been on the Atlanta city council for the past 11 years.

On the other hand Kasim Reed may be viewed as just another candidate being pushed by the big Democrat machine that’s running the “style over substance” game and may continue the re-gentrification of Atlanta started by the previous Black mayors. At any rate, with 72% of the votes counted at 10pm, Norwood is leading Reed 52% to 48%, tomorrow morning Atlanta will have a new mayor elect. Though I don’t live in Atlanta proper, all of us that live here know that what happens in the city of Atlanta trickles out north, south, east and west, we shall see.