My Lost Decade, Part I
I moved to metro Atlanta 10 years ago. Compared to the small, rural South Carolina town I was living in, Atlanta was, and is, a booming metropolis. Being a Strong Island native, I missed people and traffic and things to do besides attend church on Sunday morning. So on August 7, 2000, I became a resident of the Peach State.
In 2000, Atlanta was happenin’. It was a burgeoning technology hot spot, and much sought-after convention city. This was just four years after the Olympics put the city on the map and made it international.
Most of all, it was a black Mecca. I was approaching my mid-20s and in desperate emotional need of connecting with the kinds of smart, young, college-educated, upwardly-mobile African-Americans I attended college with. That wasn’t about to happen in Podunk, SC. But it did happen in Atlanta.
Still, I never felt like I fit in here. Mississippians and Alabamans might say otherwise, but Atlanta is southern. The Second Great Yankee Invasion may have given Atlanta an urbane, east coast patina, but the city is southern like pulled pork, fried okra and sweet tea.
What do I mean by ‘southern’? I mean that most of the black folks here are fourth, fifth, or sixth generation Americans. ‘Race’ is almost exclusively framed black-and-white terms. Class is a strong divider, especially within races. Conservative social standards are the norm. Chivalry isn’t entirely dead. Going to Church and/or being a Christian are givens — especially if you are black.
That’s in contrast to my home town with its mix of Caribbean-Americans, black Americans, Africans, Afro-Latinos, Latinos, Afro-Brits, Asian Americans, Asian-Caribbean-Americans and white Americans. Black neighborhoods up north have a little more income integration. “Live and let live,” is a guiding social norm. A guy might be chivalrous if he likes you, otherwise, open your own damn door. And oh yeah: church-optional Sundays.
So how does a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee, feminist, upper-middle class, somewhat Pan-Africanist atheist with some Buddhist / Taoist leanings fit into the Bible Belt? Short answer: She doesn’t.
Next: Part II