Newspaper Article

LETTERS

BOB WELLS, CLIFTON JONES, GENE WADE, AUGUSTUS GODDARD, PEGGY SMITH, RUSSELL D. LONGCORE, D.H. STREET, NATALIE C. BEAUMONT, HOYT LECROY, JAMES HILL, PATRICIA DAVIS, EDMUND TRAFFORD, DAVID L. COX, LINDA TORRES, GORDON FISHER, GREG KERN, DAVID HESLA, MONOJIT

2003

Overview

As usual, [Cynthia Tucker]'s tirade on affirmative action misses the real point. Cynthia claims that although she owes her job to affirmative action, she was qualified to do the job so that makes everything OK. The real point is that her affirmative action designation denied another person, possibly better qualified, better educated and certainly the possessor of more common sense, a job just because he/she was of the non-preferred color. I did not live in Atlanta during the terms of Mayor [Ivan Allen Jr.] or Mayor [Maynard Jackson], so what I know about the accomplishments of both men comes from reading the coverage of their respective deaths in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It seems that one man held this city together during its most difficult period, brought development of the expressways that lead to our incredible growth, and brought us the Atlanta Braves. The other man redeveloped an airport that was created by a former mayor (enriching himself and his friends in the process), was the first man of his race to become mayor of Atlanta, and helped bring the Olympic Games to Atlanta. Both were great leaders, but it seems like the one with the greater accomplishments is being overlooked in the newspaper's quest to rename a prominent Atlanta landmark. Transportation programs in Georgia should be planned with the needs of all taxpayers in mind. Our Georgia Department of Transportation, however, purchased land for the defunct, corrupt, and ill-conceived Northern Arc and, now, Commissioner [Wayne Hill] of Gwinnett County has brazenly begun serious lobbying efforts to convince Gov. [Sonny Perdue] to donate the land, worth an estimated $35 million, solely to Gwinnett.

• Publisher: Atlanta Journal Constitution, LLC