America at 250: Georgia cities like Eatonton restore our faith in democracy

Our soon-to-be 250-year-old democratic republic endured major stress tests recently that shook the faith of citizens across the political spectrum.

A presidential assassination attempt at the April 25 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner engendered conspiracy theories on social media that further pushed people into their corners.

An April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that undermines the 1965 Voting Rights Act added fuel to the fire of an already hyperpartisan push to redraw congressional maps where the politicians get to pick their voters and not the other way around.

Meanwhile, the descendant of the British monarch — whom Founding Father Thomas Jefferson called a “Tyrant” in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 — reminded national elected leaders of what America is all about.

King Charles III, in his address to Congress on April 28, celebrated the U.S. and U.K.’s shared values of democracy and checks and balances, and he joked that he had no plans to reclaim the former colonies lost by his ancestor, King George III.

“America’s words carry weight and meaning — as they have since independence — the actions matter even more,” the king said.

Outside the halls of Congress, there is a powerful conversation about American voices, voting rights and democracy happening right here in Georgia — in small and rural communities that want citizens to engage with each other and in the practice of self-governance.

This is an incredibly positive sign in a year — our nation’s semiquincentennial — where citizens ought to be reflective of how we can continue to grow into the “more perfect union” described in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

Celebrate your republic across the state

Hours before the WHCA dinner, I drove from Atlanta about 80 miles east to Eatonton, where the Putnam County government hosted Georgia’s inaugural Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street tour called “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America.” (Indiana, Utah and Wyoming are also participating in the Museum on Main Street program).

Eatonton, centered between Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee, is one of seven small and/or rural Georgia cities that will host the exhibit, tailored to their particular community, between now and March 19, 2027.

The other cities are Hartwell, Cartersville, Mount Vernon (hosting twice), Perry, Brunswick and Dawson.

AJC Opinion Editor David Plazas (center) stands with Georgia Writers Museum board member Chip Ward (left) and board president Lou Benjamin (right) at the inaugural "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" exhibit in Eatonton, Georgia on April 25, 2026.

They are located all around the Peach State and near major centers of population where bigger-city residents should consider taking a day trip to celebrate American history and democratic values.

“The exhibit is called ‘Voices and Votes,’ and it’s about the history of democracy and voting,” Lou Benjamin, board president of the Georgia Writers Museum, said in an interview. “And that’s a history that the exhibit does a great job of presenting in terms of who gets to vote, who didn’t get to vote, how those struggles took place, what the voting procedures have been over the years and how that’s changed and continues to be a debate, and how you can be involved and participate in government even without voting,”

“And I think the interesting question was, what are the rights of a citizen versus what are the responsibilities of a citizen?” he added.

The April 25 grand opening featured an exhibit on national and local history, not shying away from topics such as voter suppression (the Ku Klux Klan and poll taxes), and also celebrated milestones such as the election of the city’s first Black mayor, John Reid, who still presides over Eatonton and came to the event.

Former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, spoke on a panel along with former Democratic state Rep. Calvin Smyre, who served in the General Assembly for 48 years, and former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, now president of Georgia College & State University.

Civility is more than mere politeness

Benjamin’s remarks on rights versus responsibilities of citizens are right on.

In my previous work of community building in Tennessee, traveling to communities, large and small, across the state created opportunities for residents of different political stripes to engage with each other on finding common ground and also discussing meaningful disagreements peacefully and constructively.

An antidote to the noise inflicted upon us by partisan politics is getting out and getting to know your neighbors and the communities around you.

Check out one or more of these “Voices and Votes” exhibits in Georgia with your family, friends, colleagues, schools, religious groups or other associations to engage in the practice of democracy and civility — a term often overshadowed by its modern definition of politeness.