If you live in one place for a while, you tend to get cynical about
it. At least that’s been my experience, having lived in such disparate
cities as Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and San Francisco
over the past 30 years. Longtime residents of all those cities are
convinced that their politicians are the crookedest, that their drivers
are the worst, that their clerks are the rudest, etc.

Memphis is no different. To our native legion of cynics, we’re the
“most racist city,” our politicians are all crooks, our crime problem
is the worst in America, etc. (Often, the folks making these remarks
are the ones who proudly write letters to the paper about how they’ve
“escaped” to Fayette or DeSoto counties. I think they’re just lonely
out there.)

I was reminded of our universal provincialism when I read a recent
article about how Atlanta, a majority black city, like Memphis, may
elect a white mayor for the first time in years. My first reaction was,
Ha! See — racial politics — just like Memphis. And the
article does point out how some black leaders are calling on one black
candidate to drop out to help ensure that the mayor’s office stays in
African-American hands. But what struck me were the following
paragraphs:

“And while blacks have been the majority population and voting bloc
in the city for decades, the demographics have changed in recent years. A large voting bloc — residents in the city’s public housing
— was erased as Atlanta’s crumbling projects were demolished over
the past decade. And young professionals, black and white, have flocked to opportunity in the city.

“In 2000, Atlanta was 33 percent white and 61 percent black. In
2007, the numbers were 38 percent white and 57 percent black, according to the U.S. Census. In addition, blacks may no longer feel obligated to elect a black mayor … a young generation of blacks — not native to Atlanta — may be staking their vote on matters more critical
than race.”

This information truly gives me hope. If Atlanta can finally get
past racial politics, so can Memphis. If Atlanta can lure young
professionals, black and white, back into the city, so can Memphis. If
Atlanta can get beyond “racial-majority rules” politics, so can
Memphis. Can’t we?

Just as we look back and are appalled at the fire hoses and bombings
and injustices endured by those struggling for civil rights in the
’60s, I think the next generation will look back and be appalled at the
racial stupidity of this era, when the struggle was all about which
skin color gets to wield political power. We can at least hope so.