Atlanta potpourri: Politics, prejudice By DAVID STOLL ATLANTA, GA. - When a p r o g r e s s i v e, fast-grow- ing American city is success- fully attracting conventions, in- ternational trade and organized crime, what could he more un- seemly than a black mayor and a white police chief at each other's throats? Crowds of an- gry black citizens marching through the streets, being at- tacked by club-swinging police- men mounted on horses? Atlan- ta has both. Some years ago it was fo, 'iv named "the city too busv to 4,,te" by a depart- ing mayor. Atlanta's troubles are a lit- Ile reminescent of Detroit. When Maynard Jackson was elected the city's first black mayor last fall1, it was widely understood that he wastgoing to do some- thing about the city's police de- partment. An oppressive pres- ence to much of the blackecom- munity, the Atlanta Police De- partment has recently been re- organized into a paragon of the m o d e r n, insurrection - alert force. Developed with federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration funds have been: helicopter patrols, a Spe- cial Weapons and Tactics unit (SWAT), an elaborate crime prevention program known as THOR (Target Hardening Op- portunity Reduction), a stake- out squad and a decoy squad. The decoy squad is similar to the recently disbanded STRESS unit in Detroit. BUT DOING something about the police department has first meant doing something about Police Chief John Inman. Uni- versally disliked by liberals and blacks for the kind of get- tough attitude which merges into racism, Inman was ap- pointed during the previous ad- ministration and oversaw the department's revamping. Lean, gray-haired and unsmiling, he is also reported to be connected to the underworld. In a series of upset court de- cisions since March, Inman has managed to stymie every effort to fire him or supersede his au- thority, mostly because of con- fusion over the city's new strong mayor charter under which Jackson took office. For a while Inman even called the constitutionality of the charter into question, a situation which threatened the new black politi- cal power in the city. Since then, a July 3 G e o r g i a Supreme Court decision has up- held the charter and freed the mayor's hands, but the city may not have seen the last of its police chief in court. JACKSON ACTED rashly in March, challenging Inman with- out researching the legal thick- ets into which he was plunging. Since then he has steered a cau- tious course. While continuing to reaffirm that Inman is "not the best man for the job," he has refused to speak out against the police tactics which some of his supporters are protesting so been kept from holding office until very recently, black At- lantans have had the vote and have been organized to use it for years. Their interests were advanced by an elite of preach- ers, educators and businessmen who sat down with the white es- tablishment to hammer out deals - reputedly right down to which street would go black next. Now the black politicians have come into their own. Jack- son pasted then-Mayor Sam Massell in last fall's mayoral run-off winning 59 per cent of the total and 22 per cent of the white despite Massell's racist campaign. Jackson's swearing- in ceremony, at which thous- ands of well-heeled blacks turn- "An oppressive presence to much of the black community, the Atlanta Police De- partment has been reorganized into a para- gon of the modern, insurrection-alert force." lishment is probably most upset about is Jackson's popular flank, his rebellious black sup- porters led by the Rev. Hosea Williams. In a black commun- ity dominated so thoroughly by its responsible leadership, something like Williams and his street marches is probably in- evitable. During the most re- cent demonstration, marchers songs: Oh tell Maynard Jackson We voted for him. And if he don't fire John In- man We'll go against him. A poor man's agitator who talks about using weapons if the system doesn't prove re- sponsive, the Rev. Hosea repre- sents the part of the black elec- torate which . the established leadership will have the hardest time controlling. Last fall he demonstrated his ability to buck the 'responsible leadership by running against a Chamber can- didate, successfully drawing off much of the middle class and lower class vote. WILLIAMS HAS been leading street actions in Atlanta for years, most often in labor clashes and protest's against police brutality. The marches didn't gain their first momen- tum this spring until after two decoy squad killings however, the first police homicides since Jackson took office. While Wil- liams has tended to center on Inman and the decoy squad, his real subject is being poor, black and dependent on a man in city hall. Inman didn't try to stop the marches until June, after they were gaining in numbers due to the death of 17 year old Bran- don Gibson, shot in the head while struggling with two offic- ers. In a melee June 26 - re- corded by two televisions news crews and replayed for the benefit of the whole city that night - officers mounted on horses rode into a crowd swing- ing nightsticks; some were pull- ed from their saddles and beat- that he fronted the entrance of the national syndicate into At- lanta's heretofore provincial un- derworld. Howard is now resid- ing in Miami. WHILE LAW AND ORDER die-bards are sticking with the chief, his most valuable re- sources appear to be a clever lawyer and a few powerful backers in the business com- munity, ostensibly motivated by conservative sentiments. His lawyer is Wesley Asinoff, a tie- 'em-in-knots legal talent who has defended Atlanta's big num- bers operators in their brushes with the law. Inman lives in a house belonging to and adjoin- ing the estate of Billy Orkin, one of the heirs to the Orkin pesticide fortune. Two weeks ago Orkin was indicted for con- spiracy to murder an insurance company executive, allegedly delivering a pistol and instruc- tions into the hands of an un- dercover police agent. A federal grand jury is re- ported to have been investigat- ing Inman in May, although the D.A. says his name came up only in reference to other fig- ures. If the powers that be are worried about Inman's criminal connections, they aren't showing it. While the city's established dailies have yet to print any- thing, stories from command level officers in the police de- partment and from criminal fig- ures have found their way into two radical weeklies, the Atlan- ta Voice and the Great Speckled Bird. "A Mafia Take-Over in At- lanta?" screams the Bird. INMAN WILL probably be tried by the--city council some- time late this month; in May the necessary two-thirds voted to impeach him for planting a police spy on the staff of the Voice. Additional charges may also be filed. But a trial could prove difficult, as the chief has threatened to file suit to dis- qualify five councilmen for making prejudicial statements vociferously. When pressed, he says only that individual "con- venience" will have to be bal- anced against "efficiency" in crime prevention. His position reflects, not only his own back- ground, but the nature of what is known as "responsible black leadership" in Atlanta and its ties to the white power struc- ture. What is most important for Atlanta's blacks is what they've already got, in other words, not what they lack. The city is the center of one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. Developers are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the downtown area for hotels, office buildings and commercial facilities. Unem- ployment, although double for blacks, is only 3.5 per cent. Con- struction of a $1.4 billion rapid transit system promises to ex- pand job opportunities for poor working people. MUCH OF ATLANTA'S sta- bility stems from the well-de- veloped black middle class and leadership there probably the oldest and most entrenched in the nation. Although they have TiE Michigan Daily Edited and managed by Students at the University of Michigan Wednesday, July 17, 1974 News Phone: 764 0552 Scratch a maugwump. AND YOU FIND a mugwump. From the National Review comes news that George McGovern, campaigning to keep his South Dakota seat In the Senate, has equivocated harder than ever on the issue of amnesty. His opponent, former POW Leo Thorsness, wants to debate the topic, but old George ducks with great agility, saying (according to NR) "amnesty is not within the re- sponsibilities of a United States senator." McGovern's office in Washington complains, pre- dictably, that the quote is out of context. The context runs something like this: Veterans affairs are the pre- rogative of the Senate. Amnesty is the prerogative of the president. Since the president's position on amnesty is clear, everyone should dump amnesty and get behind the drive for increasing veterans' benefits. Not surprisingly, his comments were made in a cam- paign speech before the VFW. McGOVERN'S LOGIC is the sort that has made the Senate a cozy berth for good-looking lawyers who couldn't hack practicing law, and a toothless lap-dog while successive administrative tigers have determined foreign and domestic policy.. Maybe Leo Thorsness has a harder head. -MARNIE HEYN ed out to celebrate with more champagne than soul, was wide- ly compared to an inauguration. PLUMP, LIGHT - SKINNED and possessed of a perfect toothpaste smile, the impeccab- ly presentable Jackson is scion of one of the South's oldest (black) families. While serving as vice-mayor during Massell's administration, he built perhaps the strongest grass-roots organ- ization Atlanta has ever seen, then presented himself as an accomplished fact to black and shite leaders. Realizing that Jackson was probably unbeatable, the Cham- ber of Commerce chose Jackson over Massell. In Atlanta, a city which has never really known machine politics unless it is Jackson's, the municipality has traditionally been dominated by a WASP elite of bankers and businessmen. And the Chamber, composed largely of bankers, utilities men, and, more re- cently,sthe big dowtonrdevel- opers, is it. If the Chamber needs Jack- son for the votes necessary to minimize damage at election timefoJackson needs the Cham- ber for the kind of finance, ex- pertise and connections neces- sary to run a boom town. THERE ARE complaints, of course: that a reverse racism is in operation down at city hall as posts are filled; that Jack- son is too hard to get to; that the city council, with nine white and nine black members, is polarizing along racial lines. And if the Chamber boys want to get rid of the chief because he's a disruptive influence they want even more for the situa- tion to cool down. But while the alliance be- tween Jackson and the down- town commercial community is still fragile, Jackson hasn't done anything too upsetting ei- ther. Visible accomplishments have been few, although an ad- ministrative reorganization is being carried out. Jackson tells his supporters that an exten- sive system of community input is being developed. It's just so grass-roots, he tells skeptics, that they can't even see it. WHAT THE WHITE estab- "(Black Atlantans') interests were ad- vanced by an elite of preachers, educators a n d businessmen who sat down with the white establish- ment to hammer out deals - reputedly right d own to which stre et would go black next." "(Police Chief) Inman is reported to have gotten his start shaking down numbers- runners, later graduating to liquor license shakedowns and maybe gambling." en; numbers of police and marchers were injured and fif- teen, including Williams (for the second time in three days), were arrested. ALTHOUGH HE ISN'T happy with the marches, Jackson has since put two under 'his protec- tion by executive order. Mean- while, Inman is meeting other threats to the commonweal. At a recent Edgar Winter concert, 97 people were arrested for possession of marijuana. Ar- rests outside gay bars have also been stepped up. Any big city police chief is feared; John Inman is probably feared more than most. "Give him enough rope and he'll hang himself" is the kind of thing said frequently of him; he is widely regarded as unmanage- able. When Jackson tried to fire him in April, Inman met the new appointee with a dozen members of the SWAT unit and an arsenal of weapons stock- piled in his office. Then there's the company he keeps. tnman istreportedkto have gotten his start shaking down numbers runners, later graduating to liquor license shakedowns .and maybe gamb- ling. Still a sergeant up until six years ago, his spectacular rise to the top is credited to his friendship with the ex-mayor's brother, Howard Massell.. The best said of Howard in Atlanta these days is that he enjoyed an inordinate amount of influence in his brother's administration; a modest assessment is that he was into gambling and prosti- tution; the worst possible is against him. Jackson can also allow Inman to simply wither on the vine by appointing a Pub- lic Safety Commissioner above him, although his constituency plainly expects him to try to fire Inman first. What is probably moasts ur- prising is the quiesence with which Atlantans are taking the developments in their city. Wil- liam's street marches, though no mean accomplishment in the year 1974; are miniscule com- pared to the city's black popu- lation. And despite some effort, In- man's supporters have failed to drum up any visible grass-roots support from the law and order fans. WHAT IS OBVIOUS in down- town Atlanta is what was once known as progress: tall new buildings; cranes and the skele- tons of more being built in be- tween; and, congregating in the Five Points park during the noon hours, swarms of well- dressed young black and white office workers. At the edge of the high-rise district, out of a wide gully where the railroad tracks come into town, Atlanta's finest is still rising: the $100 million plus Omni complex, including a pro- fessional sports arena, a hotel- office complex covering 10 acres which will feature a 14 story interior space, and-plans have just been announced - a $35 million world trade center. Atlantans, at least the ones reaping the most benefit from their city's prosperity, are in- deed too busy to hate.