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by Mercedes Garcia-Rivas, ATLANTA, GA – Atlanta is commonly known as the heart
of the Civil Rights Movement and the modern-day “Black Mecca”. While the Black
population of the city proper remains just over 50 percent, in my time spent
in college here I’ve noticed that the city has become increasingly diverse.
It’s not just “Black and White” anymore. I've noticed this at
public events around the city. But it still depends on where in the city you
happen upon. For example, chess playing in Woodruff Park right near Georgia
State University continues to be mostly among Black males. But at the Annual Color Run you see people
from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
At
another public park in the center of Atlanta an event offering assistance and
information to people from other countries just arriving in the city, you see
how the city has a growing Latino population.
And like the Color Run, at Atlanta’s Annual Street Food Festival you see food and people
from all over. Everybody mingles and has fun together.
These are the scenes I like the best. I'm hopeful that such scenes are
harbingers for better ethnic and racial relations as well as growing equality as our
entire society continues to grow more diverse. Perhaps because Atlanta was
the heart of the Civil Rights Movement back in the 1960s, it’s culture makes it
more welcome for increasing diversity.
Mercedes Garcia-Rivas is a major in
Political Science and a minor in Sociology at Georgia State University.
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