Roy Wilkins (left), Ivan Allen Jr., and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Photograph by Associated Press Bill Nigut is the host of In These Times, a podcast and radio show for WABE.Illustration by Graham Smith I arrived in Atlanta to begin my reporting job at WSB-TV on Labor Day weekend in 1983. I’d come from Chicago, where one of the last stories I’d covered was the April election of Harold Washington, the city’s first Black mayor. It was an ugly time in Chicago politics; Washington endured vile, racist opposition to his candidacy. When he campaigned in White neighborhoods, people sometimes chanted the N-word as he walked through the street. When I told my Chicago friends that I was heading to Atlanta, some were dismissive: “Do you really want to live in the South with all those racists?” The irony was inescapable. Had my friends not just witnessed the open bigotry on display in Chicago’s politics? In fact, Atlanta by then already had a decade of Black leadership in city hall, beginning with Maynard Jackson’s election in 1973. And the city’s progressive voting patterns trace back even further, to the mayor’s race of 1961, the same year Atlanta magazine was founded. Like much of the South, the city was embroiled in an intense conflict over segregation and civil rights, and the mayoral election of ’61 pitted an avowed segregationist, Lester Maddox, against moderate Ivan Allen Jr. Maddox was the owner of the Pickrick Restaurant, which refused to serve Black customers. Allen—following in the footsteps of then mayor William Hartsfield, who famously declared Atlanta the city “too busy to hate”—ran as a moderate pro-business candidate who believed that rejecting efforts to integrate would damage the city’s economy and growing national reputation. William HartsfieldCourtesy of Getty Images Allen beat Maddox handily, winning enough votes to avoid a runoff and setting Atlanta on a progressive road the city’s subsequent leaders have largely followed. But that election was only part of a wider landscape: During those tumultuous years of mandated integration, the path to equality unfolded unevenly across Georgia. Here in Atlanta, organizers peacefully integrated four high schools, Georgia Tech, and lunch counters at several department stores, while city leaders began the process of desegregating public facilities. In South Georgia, a coalition of Black civil rights groups launched the Albany Movement with the goal of desegregating an entire community. The effort failed, but Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. later said the lesson served him well in Birmingham and other cities. In Athens, however, after a district court judge ordered integration at the University of Georgia and Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes became the university’s first Black students, a racist protest by White students grew over several days into a violent mob. One night, as many as 2,000 people gathered outside Hunter-Gault’s dorm, throwing bricks and bottles through dorm windows and setting fire to nearby woods. Maynard JacksonCourtesy of Getty Images Governor Ernest Vandiver, who had run as a staunch segregationist, first ignored pleas to send in state troopers to quell the riots. He ultimately relented and instructed the legislature to pass laws that eased integration across the state. The “Atlanta Way”—as city leaders liked to call their pro-business, pro-racial harmony approach—proved good for the city. Today, Atlanta has become the urban metropolis it was still striving to be in the 1960s. City leaders—Black and White alike—continue to work together to ensure it is one of the nation’s most appealing cities for business. But the city is faced with a troubling problem as vexing as any during the civil rights era: By most measures, we have one of the largest income gaps of any city in the country. The lowest earners average some $11,000, while top incomes average more than $300,000. Solving that may be the biggest concern Atlanta faces as we move forward. More on Atlanta politics “I moved to Atlanta in 1972; in those days, there were very few women in political leadership. I think the biggest change in politics over time has been the engagement of women. Women have always been behind the scenes, but now they’re able to step into leadership. I am very grateful for the opportunities that the people of Atlanta gave me. And what kept me going as mayor was opening the door for leadership for women. My standard of success was this: When I left office, would the door still be open for women? And the door was open—we’ve had two women mayors. We’ve had three women run for governor. We have women representatives in Congress. The door is still open, but we have to keep pushing.” – Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin Back to 65 Years of Atlanta Magazine This article appears in our May 2026 issue. The post Atlanta’s progressive path across uneven terrain appeared first on Atlanta Magazine. ...read more read less