Norwood: White or black, vote for who represents your issues. (photo by John Sepulvado)
The chanting stops so the press can ask questions of Norwood before she heads to her next event. The first question comes from a local television reporter, and it’s about race.
“What do you think about the fact you could become the first white mayor of Atlanta in a more than a generation?”
Norwood, like she has many times before when answering this question during the campaign, pauses, before invoking Martin Luther King Jr. She tells reporters voters should pick her “on the content of my character, not by the color of my skin.” Her supporters begin cheering again, and Norwood turns to hug them and shake their hands as camera flashes pop.
It is clear, however, that Norwood is getting some support simply because she is outside of the city’s black political leadership. The city has seen an influx of white residents after decades of white flight. Meanwhile, polls have consistently shown her getting large support from the city’s whites, while receiving a strong portion of the black vote. And while the polls don’t explain why white voters overwhelmingly support Norwood, there’s anecdotal evidence that in part, it does have to do with the color of her skin.
“I’m voting for her because she’s white,” says David Massey of Ormewood Park. The white Atlanta resident says he supports her stance on the commuter tax, but other than that, he’s “pretty ignorant about this race.”
Still, he’s looking forward to voting for Norwood over former State Senator Kasim Reed and City Council President Lisa Borders.
“The possibility of a white mayor excites me,” Massey says. “I don’t know what she’s going to do different then anyone else, and it’s not that I’m racist,” Massey continues. He says he is “tired” of the city’s black leadership "not delivering on promises." and that a wholesale change is needed.
“It is a feeling in this city during this election,” says Eric Thomas, pastor of St. Peters Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas, who heads the black congregation, says his neighborhood “has been so dispossessed for so long, that we just want to get basic services. Unfortunately, there’s some level of corruption in the black power structure…it’s the reality.”
Yet, Thomas is voting for Norwood because of what she has done, not as an indictment of the Maynard Jackson political machine that has run the city for decades. Jackson was the first black mayor of Atlanta and served three terms in that office.
“I’ve been here six years as pastor, and during that time, Mary has been incredibly responsive. Probably the most responsive council member regarding community matters,” Thomas says.
Norwood has been described as a threat to black leadership in a controversial memo. She’s also been characterized as a closet Republican by her opponents. Both charges have failed to derail her campaign in the majority-minority, heavily Democratic city. Norwood says it’s a testament to the relationships she’s cultivated over the past eight years during her tenure on the on the council. Norwood says she will continue serving constituents if elected mayor.
“I am running for mayor to focus on the issues that our citizens care about. And that is public safety, fiscal accountability, service delivery, and prosperity coming to all the city,” Norwood said shortly before hugging a few more supporters, shaking a few more hands, and then heading out to the next campaign stop.
