Wills Park in Alpharetta is one of my favorite places on the weekend, and last Sunday, a warm one, it was alive with activity and a wide array of people. It seemed to me a much more diverse group of park-goers than I’d seen in years past.
One week before, I was in New York City with my family, and we thought we’d go see Central Park. We wrapped ourselves in wool and went from Time’s Square, passing so many different people along the way it was a marvel.
Wills Park and Central Park are miles apart, but on both these days represented for me the best of human nature, with all kinds of people living, laughing and loving in a community that makes them happy.
So why do humans operate in harmony on Sunday but on Monday resort to stratification and division? Perhaps it’s because of the dialectical nature of politics and the tendency for our representatives to find more to fight over than to unify about.
Take for instance this past week ‘s important Supreme Court decision regarding the relevance of Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The 1965 Act arose to right the horrible history of disenfranchisement perpetrated against African-Americans in the South. Passage of the law demonstrated great legislative unity.
What is divisive is Section 5 of the Act. It states that nine states, including Georgia, must get federal approval to change electoral procedures. This “preclearance” is to make sure minorities are not discriminated against. Some feel that the Voting Rights Act has succeeded so well that Section 5 is no longer necessary. Others think the U.S. Justice system must continue to monitor Georgia and others for misbehavior.
Closer to home in Fulton County, Democrats and Republicans are fighting over the validity of re-drawing the voter map for Fulton County commissioners. Democrats want to keep it as is, and Republicans want to change it to give North Fulton a new seat.
Apparently, because North Fulton has a majority white population, and because creating this new seat would eliminate an existing an “at large” one currently held by an African-American, the change may fall under suspicion as unfair to minority voters, and thus be subject to federal scrutiny, as outline in Section 5.
As I am writing this, I do not know how the Supreme Court will judge on Section 5 (the case is Shelby County, Ala. v. Eric Holder). Neither do I know how the Democrats and Republicans in North Fulton will react, and how it will affect new commission district lines.
All I know is that Alpharetta and other North Fulton cities are communities alive with all kinds of people who greatly enjoy their surroundings, and who probably want fairness for themselves and others – just like folks in New York city and across this nation.
I just wish our politicians could find ways to create more unity and less division.
Veronica Buckman has been a resident of Milton for nine years. You can reach her at vrbuck01@aol.com
