Here’s where I agree with racist Georgia councilman Jim Cleveland, who rose to infamy after proudly articulating his opposition to interracial marriage: There is a stark difference between Atlanta and the rest of Georgia. While Atlanta may boast a diverse population that's more than 50% black and headed by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a black woman, larger Georgia seems to defy the bounds of time, with many residents still harboring a fondness for the Confederacy and the white supremacy that is its hallmark.
That sentiment is so popular that when Mayor Theresa Kenerly of Hoschton, a city about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, admitted that she snuffed a black job candidate's chances because of his race, the aforementioned councilman defended her by admitting he couldn't stomach seeing blacks with whites together on television, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Makes my blood boil because that's just not the way a Christian is supposed to live," Cleveland said.
He went on to explain his beliefs.“I understood where she was coming from,” Cleveland told the AJC. “I understand Theresa saying that, simply because we’re not Atlanta. Things are different here than they are 50 miles down the road.” He’s since resigned, saying Tuesday that he would rather quit on his own terms than face voters in a recall election next month. “I’m not going to give them the pleasure of saying they recalled Mr. Cleveland,” he told the paper.
City Attorney Thomas Mitchell read the councilman’s handwritten resignation letter at a special council meeting the next day, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. “Effective today, December 10, 2019, I, Jim Cleveland, do hereby tender my resignation,” Mitchell said, reading the letter. Meanwhile, don’t think this means Cleveland has changed his mind about interracial marriage. He didn’t even pretend to backtrack yet still contended last month with Fox 5 that he’s not a racist. “I still don’t believe it’s a good idea for whites and blacks to marry but I am as antiracist as anybody,” Cleveland said.
RELATED: Michigan city council candidate wants to keep her town white 'as much as possible'
Councilman Shantwon Astin, a black man, accepted Cleveland’s resignation, Fox 5 reported. “I will make the motion to accept the resignation of councilman Jim Cleveland on behalf of the citizens of Hoschton and every member of the city which he has offended,” Astin said. Erma Denney, the former mayor, counted herself among them when she talked to an 11 Alive reporter in May. "They don't speak for Hoschton. They don’t represent us,” she said. “This is not who we are, and this is not what we want the world to think we are.”
Although Denney may not want Hoschton to be known as a racist town, its mayor has her fair share of supporters. “I would keep the mayor in office,” Hoschton resident Chuck Cameron told Fox 5, adding “she’s done a good job.” There have also been many calls, though unanswered, for Kenerly to resign. “She would be the first mayor recalled out of office in the state of Georgia and that’s a huge historic thing,” Pete Fuller, chairman of the Jackson County Georgia Democrats, told Fox 5.
Keith Henry, the black man formerly up for a city administrator role when the mayor opposed him, told KHOU in May that he planned to sue the city. "I think it's a issue that's far beyond the city of Hoschton or even the state of Georgia," Henry told KHOU. "This often happens for many minorities across the country." A black former nursing home executive won more than $6 million in a New Jersey discrimination suit after her boss allegedly overturned her promotion because she didn’t "want a black person walking around here in a suit as VP," according to Atlanta Black Star. Care One executive Alison Fitzpatrick-Durski allegedly told Rebecca McCarthy: "I want you in scrubs, flats and a lab coat,” according to the news site.