Race and Politics in Georgia

It's not literally hot in Georgia. That happens in May.

It's hot politically where I live in DeKalb County, though. DeKalb is experiencing a season of political unrest and at the heart of it are questions about race. There are three issues creating the heat:

1. The DeKalb County School Board has been suspended by the Governor. In short, the state's school accrediting agency (a private company known as SACS) found the county school board negligent in its duties. Behind the governor's actions is a history of mismanagement (including, but not limited to, graft, cronyism, nepotism, misuse of funds, poor oversight) by the elected school board and by hired superintendents. Even while the governor was within his legal bounds to suspend the board, some are anxious when a white governor removes black elected officials. Complicating an already complex situation is that the SACS report, while basically accurate, relies on anonymous sources and actually includes false information. Suspended School Board chair Eugene Walker described his removal as a "lynching."
2. The DeKalb CEO, Burrell Ellis, is under investigation by the county District Attorney's office for potential corruption related to county water and sewer contracts. No charges have been filed, but there is controversy over whether and how the results of the investigation will be made public. Ellis and the District Attorny, Robert James, are both black.
3. Cityhood/Secession movements are underway as the northern, mostly white areas of DeKalb County "secede" from the county and form independent cities. The northern areas are the most commercially prosperous and contribute to the county's tax base. The areas that are seceding claim that high taxes, poor services, and lack of effective representation are pushing them out. It's hard not to see racial undertones.

If you read the "comments" sections of the local papers that are covering these issues, you see the race lines drawn. Whites (and some blacks) talk about "mismanagement" and malign the personalities; blacks (and some whites) assert "local autonomy" and defend the people involved.

What lies behind that back-and-forth is, I believe, a white suspicion that black leaders are incapable of leading complex organizations without A) mismanagement or B) corruption.

It's a problem: black leadership is established in areas with majority-black populations (DeKalb is 55% black). These areas (DeKalb included) have complicated management issues (above-average poverty, long or recent history of economic disinvestment). Add to that the temptation a leader of any race faces to reward her supporters and solidify power. Julian Bond said (half-jokingly) that the good government reforms that came after Watergate were a bane to the black community because they slammed the door on graft just at the moment blacks were poised to take advantage (quoted by Frederick Allen in Atlanta Rising).

I'm a white pastor of a majority-white church, in a majority-white neighborhood, in majority-white northern DeKalb, in majority-black DeKalb County. I'm trying to figure out how to personally engage these issues and also how to engage our congregation in the well-being of the entire community.

What's the right path? What partnerships does our church need? What friendships should I be striking up?

I have an idea, but I'll admit that this has been one of the hardest parts of my ministry to wrap my mind around.