The Ghost of Atlanta Past - Essay Example

This is the travesty that modern-day Atlanta has become. This is what we have retained after two-hundred years of fascinating and sometimes violent history. We can see the now, let us examine the then.Late in September of 1906, the energy that had been pent up by years of slavery and civil war exploded in Atlanta when mobs of whites assault black citizens, killing dozens, wounding many more, and causing untold property damage.The racial tension began to build during the Reconstruction, when blacks started to exercise their newly found rights, giving rise to a group of wealthy black elites; a group that assaulted the sensibilities of the then-racist denizens of Atlanta.

It was because of this that headlines on September 22nd, 1906 read, ".Frequent Assaults"But not all of Atlanta's past has been so radically violent. Still standing is the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Sr. preached for over forty-four years. Atlanta is where the biggest player in the Civil Rights Movement got his start. Atlanta was the home base of Martin Luther King Jr's group, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), where nonviolent protest in the name of racial equality achieved a huge level of awareness.

The group's offshoot, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) also found it's way to Atlanta during it's aptly named Atlanta Project, which took the nonviolent protest to a more aggressive level than it had touched before.And what have we done to preserve this heritage The birthplace of equality and freedom in America has to defend it's historic value essentially one defender: The King Center. A museum, community center, and tribute, the King Center works to develop the "Beloved Community" envisioned by MLK.

While this is an amiable goal, it is hardly sufficient to immortalize the long struggle that is Atlanta history.All of this history is packed into the humble city of Atlanta, Georgia. A culture unto itself, this community reaches to include and represent the entirety of the Southern world. And more than anything, this city has a tale that it longs to tell. A rich story than spans centuries; each generation giving way unto the next chapter in a book that inspires us, tempts us and reminds us of the way things once were.

The story of Atlanta is well documented, and there are groups dedicated to its preservation, but how much have we lost already How many historic buildings and landmarks have given way to WalMarts and McDonald's How many stories have been lost to the ages. And most importantly, how many more can we allow to do soWe stand at a fork in time. Atlanta, like every other city in America, has a story. Some have been done to prevent that story from being lost, but not enough. We can choose to forge ahead, blindly, in the name of progress.

Or instead, we could remember where we came from in order to decide where we're going.