Atlanta Protests Reveal Divides in Bastion of Black Success
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tries to quiet violent protesters by invoking the city’s abundance of black-owned businesses and saying “We are better than this.”
People march through downtown toward the Georgia State Capitol on May 29.
Photographer: Lynsey Weatherspoon for Bloomberg Businessweek
If any city in America could think it was inoculated against the protests that have swept across this country’s urban landscape, it might have been the metropolis of Atlanta.
The onetime Confederate stronghold is not only the place that gave birth to Martin Luther King Jr. and many other notable African Americans, it is also a magnet for younger generations of black people—a land where black lives not only matter but flourish. In addition to hundreds of black-owned restaurants, salons, barbershops, and other small businesses, Atlanta is home to African-American entrepreneurs who are global giants in their industries. One of them, the actor and mogul Tyler Perry, opened a 330-acre studio in the city last year, employing hundreds of people on some days within one of the largest production facilities in the country.