Fresh Loaf

Imagine that. Somewhere in the legislative process, a piece of chest-thumping Dixieland legislation about the Civil War morphed into — a bill about Civil Rights?

Last week, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill sponsored by state Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlochknee, that designates April as “Confederate Heritage and History Month” — a 30-day tribute to one of the country’s darkest periods and the first holiday of its kind in the country. I know, you’re shaking your head, saying “Oh, dear God, those mouth-breathing lawmakers are at it again.” Quite understandable if you just look at the name of the monthlong holiday.

But the actual language of the bill that ultimately passed might surprise you. And for all the negative publicity the bill had the potential to attract (and oddly enough didn’t), you wonder why lawmakers decided not to point out an olive branch — designating a Savannah museum as an “official Georgia historical civil rights museum” — that was inserted into the bill.

First, let’s take a look at the bill when it was first introduced:

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Shortly before noon, in front of Old City Hall (the Mitchell Street side), Council President Lisa Borders jumped back into the Atlanta mayor’s race with both feet and a couple dozen well-wishers.

Her first order of business was to address why she’d changed her mind after leaving the campaign trail seven months ago. As Borders delicately explained, it seemed at the time that her parents’ failing health would demand so much of her time that she couldn’t continue her mayor campaign. Since then, she said, her family situation had “stabilized,” enabling her to rejoin the race. To underscore her point, both her parents were at her side during the announcement.

Borders’ family connections are a substantial part of her appeal for many older Atlantans. Her grandfather, the Rev. William Holmes Borders, was an influential pastor at Wheat Street Baptist Church who, in the pre-Civil Rights era, successfully helped push the city into integrating its police force and public transportation system. The Council president also name-checked late Mayor Maynard Jackson as having “inspired me to serve.”

But Borders’ main political asset is her close relationship with the Chamber of Commerce crowd. A Council member told me as an aside that, at a business breakfast he attended this morning, people came close to cheering when it was announced that Borders was getting back into the race. (more…)

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