By Carron J. Phillips
Disrespect is one thing; stupidity is another.
For the second time since the hard work of those who believe in democracy turned Georgia blue and shifted the 2020 presidential election in favor of the Democrats, the party has failed to select Atlanta as the host city for the Democratic National Convention. Last week, the cities of Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia were announced as the finalists.
The Democratic National Committee has indicated that a place that’s known for overt racism, a white liberal liberal town in Colorado, and the location of the controversial 2016 DNC — where hecklers booed their own candidate — were the best options to anoint their next leader to confront this regime.
Wow.
Rightfully, Atlanta is pissed off.
“For the DNC to not even include Atlanta in the shortlist means that the DNC does not consider Atlanta or Georgia relevant to the past, present, or future of the Democratic Party. It seems that Ken Martin [Party Chair] doesn’t even believe himself when he said that the road to the White House runs through the South,” wrote Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens in his retort to the decision. According to the Associated Press, the party didn’t specify why Georgia’s capital city wasn’t selected, but the report noted that officials considered logistical and fundraising capacity as factors. Atlanta however, just hosted the World Cup, is home to the world’s busiest airport, and has a range of corporate headquarters, from Home Depot to Delta Airlines.
“They are afraid to leave their comfort zone and blind to the fact that the South is the answer,” Dickens declared. “They are abandoning Atlanta, abandoning the South, and once again abandoning Black voters.”
While major southern metropolises like Charlotte, Nashville, New Orleans, and Houston were also not selected, Atlanta’s slight feels especially idiotic given the debt the party owes to the state. Despite losing two campaigns to become the country’s first Black female governor, Stacey Abrams spearheaded an initiative that registered over 800,000 voters in the state leading up to the 2020 presidential election, galvanizing them to lead the charge that flipped Georgia blue. This was a historic moment that also helped get Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff elected to the Senate.
The Democratic Party doesn’t deserve Abrams or Black voters in the South. The continued disregard for the backbone of its voting base shows how racism has hindered Democrats’ ceiling.
“I grew up in Mississippi, came of age in Georgia, and I know you’ve been spending a lot of time in the South recently. You’ve been to Tennessee and Louisiana and North Carolina,” Abrams told former vice president Kamala Harris on a recent episode of her podcast. “And what I tell people when they want to understand what authoritarianism can look like in the U.S., I say, ‘Look South.’ We have lived under soft authoritarianism, I would say, since, oh, 1776.”
Ironically, at a time in which Democrats seemed to be focused on optics, Republicans are pushing through their agenda to maintain power. In Florida, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds is the favorite to be the state’s next governor, which would make him the first Black person to hold that office. Donalds has the support of MAGA and President Donald Trump because the Republican Party will look past prejudices for long-term viability.
After Angie Nixon won the Democratic Senate primary in Florida, Britney Whaley, the Southeast regional director of the Working Families Party, told PBS, “”If you’re surprised by tonight’s election results, you haven’t been paying enough attention to what’s happening in the South,” Nixon, a Black female progressive Democrat, is on the precipice of doing the unthinkable, having won the primary without a war chest or national name recognition. “Tonight’s election results must be a wake-up call to a political establishment that believes a populist message can’t win in the South. Angie’s campaign proves voters will respond to a bold economic vision that meets their basic needs,” Whaley said.
USA Today reported that the DNC didn’t elaborate on why Atlanta was snubbed: “The party didn’t specify why Atlanta and Chicago, which was the site of the 2024 convention, were eliminated. Officials visited all five cities in April and May, considering logistical and fundraising capacity among other factors.”
Things are happening in the South, but apparently not enough for Democrats to focus their efforts on the region’s biggest city.
Last fall, a Georgia judge shut down the final criminal prosecution Trump faced for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election — despite audio in which the president asked Georgia’s secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes.” And this year, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, greatly impacting a city like Atlanta that served as the home of the civil rights movement and is now the face of voter suppression.
One would think that given its history and during times like these — especially with the number of Trump’s felony convictions higher than his approval ratings — Atlanta would be the perfect place for Democrats to unite and select their presidential candidate in 2028. However, by doing that, the Democratic National Committee would have to admit something that they’ve always known but don’t want to say out loud: Black voters in the South and Black cities like Atlanta are the heartbeat of their party, not liberal whites.
Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University. Follow his personal Substack to keep up with more of his work.
Agree the DNC sucks right now. But voting isn't marriage. It's public transport. You're not waiting for "the one". You're getting on the bus. And if there isn't one going exactly to your destination, you don't stay home & sulk. You take the one that's going closest to where you want to be.
If you want Georgia, the South, your state to be better, vote Democratic in November.
Not voting = fascists win.
Currently reading Ben Wikler’s new book. He should have been DNC chair. He’s funny and a lifelong organizer. Talk to Gov Shapiro and ask him to cede the convention to Atlanta if Philly is chosen 👹