ATLANTA, November 3, 2020

 

* The United States woke up after election day to more dispiriting evidence that we remain a divided country. Shirley Franklin, a Democrat, was mayor of Atlanta, GA, from 2002 to 2010.  She shared the thoughts below with us this morning.  

by Shirley Franklin

Today I have a greater appreciation for those who are willing to break with their dark history to support progressive and moderate public policy.

 

I am horrified that any immigrant — first, second or third generation — believes they succeed in America because of their hard work alone. That is a selfish narrow-minded approach to human rights and economic freedom  

 

I am convinced the fight for justice is harder today than any time since slavery.

 

I am annoyed that much of heartland and rural America rides on the economic backs of urban America, yet many still thumb their noses at urban Americans who are more diverse and much less selfish than they are.

 

The lessons of Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists tell us to be loud, uncompromising, proud and persistent. Those lessons are more pertinent for these days than I imagined.