- Protesters disrupt brunch at popular Decatur restaurants [CBS46]
- City of Winship latest DeKalb city proposal [WABE]
- Splitting up the neighborhood [MANA]
- Decatur culinary team goes to state [3ten]
- Challenges for Avondale road diet, roundabout [Decaturish]
- Transportation Bill narrowly passes GA Senate [WABE]
- Where’s the dreariest place in America? [CityLab]
Map courtesy of Brian B’s Climate Blog
This is obviously a plot by such dreary cities as Burlington, Vermont, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, to discourage potential newcomers and keep public school enrollment down. We need to get a dark blue dot over the City of Decatur!
We have a couple of friends who moved to Seattle from here. They say it rains more often most of the year but that the summers are much nicer than in Atlanta.
Confirmed. Seattle from mid-May until October has tremendous weather — very little rain, comfortable day and night. But, man, does it take a long time to get to mid-May!
I don’t think these protesters even know what they are protesting anymore. They should have been arrested for refusing to leave the restaurant.
By that dreariness metric, the deserts of southern california (and nearby) are a great place to live. We once camped in Needles, CA. The night-time wind felt hotter than the ambient air temperature – we had to put up the tent just to block the sweltering wind.
I support protests that call attention to unwarranted police killings of unarmed citizens of any race or ethnicity. I had no problem with the protestors who blocked traffic, because the streets are public, and people are allowed to peaceably protest in public venues (plus, they weren’t there for more than a couple of hours). The protests inside restaurants, which are private property, are another matter. I’m fully aware that the Decatur PD has had its share of profiling incidents with Black citizens (which have still not yet been fully addressed), and we have a long way to go. That being said, when it comes to avoiding armed incidents that recklessly and needlessly take lives, to my knowledge, the Decatur PD is head & shoulders above the rest of the metro area police departments. I’m curious why there have been no protests outside the DeKalb Police Department (where the miscreant officers are employed)–or in restaurants in Atlanta, where there have been many more police shootings of Black folk than there have ever been in the City of Decatur. Frankly, I doubt there’s a city in Georgia aside from Atlanta where a majority of the white residents are more sympathetic to the issues behind the protest. Finally, for the news story to report that “7 ‘predominantly white’ [Decatur] restaurants had been targeted” was just odd. I frequent all of those places, and there are ALWAYS mixed crowds there–not just white folk. This protest was unfortunate, not the least because it will potentially alienate people who would ordinarily support the grave subject matter (the unwarranted killings of unarmed Black citizens by police), but because it will enable those who don’t care about the subject to distract themselves from its importance.
Agree with you, Cubalibre. These protests are important…at the appropriate place and time. I do not like the slogan though, as I believe we should focus on anyone/everyone unjustly killed by our government (police). I do wish, however, that we would see some protests in the high crime neighborhoods, pushing back on murders of young folk by other young folk. This is much more of an issue in our time.
“Finally, for the news story to report that “7 ‘predominantly white’ [Decatur] restaurants had been targeted” was just odd.”
It looks to me like the reporter is attributing that statement to the organizer, though it does not appear to be a direct quote.
I’m completely behind the protesters as a general matter, but I agree that invading restaurants was a bizarre and likely ineffective way to go about this.
As for where COD’s general sympathies lie, you may well be right, but I note that there have been at least a few calls on these boards for the protesters to be arrested.
Agree 1000%. Decatur is the most liberal spot in the entire state, so the protestors were preaching to people already on their side. I clicked on the hashtag in the article (#Itsbiggerthanyou) and someone had posted a video about a “white lady grabs the table for her dear life.” What purpose does saying something like that serve? She was just turning around to look at the people protesting. It’s not an everyday thing. Protestors need to realize people are not automatically against them, or don’t understand the situation. If they’d talk, instead of assuming, maybe we could all work together instead of just assuming white people are the enemy.
The Decatur Police Department and the city’s independent investigations determined that the one allegation of police profiling was unfounded and that the officer acted appropriately. I believe in that case, a man was detained for a few minutes, not hurt or even arrested. That has been fully addressed, at least by the city.
I have a question about your statement that has only curiosity, no agenda, behind it.
Why do you capitalize “Black” and not “white?”
The short answer is there’s no conscious reason.
In return, I have to ask: Really? Out of my entire post, the only thing you took away from it that you felt compelled to ask about was the reason behind my (uneven) capitalization?
No, that wasn’t all I took away from it. I just had nothing else to add that other people hadn’t already said. I think your post was very well stated, and I liked it.
Also, I have seen this disparity in capitalization in other places and was just wondering. I didn’t mean to get you riled up. As I said, it was simply curiosity.
Perhaps because she is referring to people of those colors and not the colors themselves? Seems pretty straightforward to me.
I agree with you. The restaurants are private property. The protesters should have been arrested when they refused to leave. They have no right to interrupt a paying customer’s meal or to jeopardize the safety of the restaurant and its patrons.
However, we must remember that statements like “DPD has had its share of profiling incidents” should really be amended to read “DPD has had its share of alleged profiling incidents.” We cannot forget that the allegations of profiling were just that: allegations. And those allegations were largely made by one individual, whose claims have not been substantiated.
That was definitely an interesting way to report the story – the news station may have done that to add to or manufacture controversy for news value. As controversial and unnecessary as that headline is, I do wonder why and how the protesters picked the restaurants they did. Could it have been, as the headline suggests, that those restaurants were thought to be establishments where the majority of patrons would be white? Or was it thought that a city that is predominantly white “needed” or “deserved” education on the matter?
Overall, as you suggest, this protest seemed to be a misguided for a variety of reasons.
I agree with everyone – the restaurant protest was wrong. Wrong place/wrong time. But I can’t let the racial profiling thing go past. Just because one instance was investigated and not substantiated doesn’t mean it does not happen – in Decatur and elsewhere. If you don’t believe me, make the acquaintance of a young, black man and ask him.
No one said racial profiling didn’t happen. However, Decatur investigated their incident and found no wrongdoing on the part of their police officers. These inquiries should be fact based, not witchhunts based on the race of those involved? Isn’t that the point of the protesters?
the protesters wanted to point out the apathy of entitled, affluent white people. so they went where the apathetic, entitled, and affluent white people were.
seems pretty straight forward.
though you might agree with the broad strokes of their politics, these protesters did not take this action to ingratiate themselves to the readers of this blog. in fact, one might reasonably assert that they didn’t want you to like it.
life in decatur may not be as comfortable for everyone as it might be for you.
“the protesters wanted to point out the apathy of entitled, affluent white people”
And here I thought this had something to do with the police killing an unarmed man.
Now who is profiling? Seems if you are protesting people making prejudicial assumptions about others, you may not want to do the exact same thing.
so the protesters were upset that the diners were apathetic towards the murders of black men. and you guys are upset that the protesters interrupted brunch.
are these really equal problems?
Why do you assume that the diners were “apathetic toward the murder of black men”?
Because going to brunch means you just don’t care about anything, duh! I mean, it is so obvious.
when you quoted me, you changed “towards” to “toward,” which shows you didn’t copy and paste my text, but actually re-typed it in yourself. which i find way more fascinating than pretty much anything you’ve written in this thread. also i think it means there’s a 95% chance you are over 50.
brunch on the square in decatur is about as central a bastion of liberal, affluent white-ness as you can find within 100 miles. the choice seems to pretty obviously have been symbolic. again, they didn’t carry out these protests so the readers of this blog would like them.
Symbolic of what? Was the protest against “whiteness” (I typed that myself) or against police brutality?
BTW, I’m under 50.
they were calling attention to apathy. they were pointing out that affluent whites don’t care about the legal murder of black people by figures of authority, perhaps because those same figures of authority protect the privilege of affluent whites.
instead of armed rebellion, the protesters opted for causing an inconvenience during brunch. seems fairly polite of them, all things considered.
What basis do you/they have to believe people don’t care? Why don’t you head on over to Reason.dot.com (libertarian site), and see what they have to say about police violence. And I don’t think you can argue that Reason is run or frequented by black people….
Please explain how having brunch = apathy.
Enough mimosas and I don’t care about anything…
The police shootings were by the DeKalb County police, not Decatur City Police. Decatur is not within the jurisdiction of the DeKalb County Police Department. Decaturites would not have much influence over the DeKalb County police.
DeKalb County is majority black, the county commission is majority black and the Police Chief and District Attorney are black. Your suggestion about racial power motives makes no sense.
I knew Kevin Davis, and he was good to my family. I’m sad he’s gone. I’m don’t see how these protests aimed at folks in a restaurant advance justice for Kevin.
+1.
I’m also interested in the protester’s response to black on black crime and shootings of blacks by black police officers, and white on white, for that matter. Of course, black lives matter, but so do all lives. IMO, this type of protest is pointless. Protest in a meaningful manner, which this is not.
” i think it means there’s a 95% chance you are over 50.” — You already weren’t making the strongest case available to you, and with this comment you have thoroughly discredited yourself IMO.
“brunch on the square in decatur is about as central a bastion of liberal, affluent white-ness as you can find within 100 miles.”
If you really believe this, then you clearly haven’t travelled to those far-away bastions of Buckhead & Virginia Highland–both of which are in…wait…the City of Atlanta. Not Decatur, not DeKalb, even. Oh, & let’s not forget Candler Park, Inman Park, and Kirkwood–again, all outside COD. You’re making it too easy for others here to completely discount the points you’re trying to make.
“the choice seems to pretty obviously have been symbolic. again, they didn’t carry out these protests so the readers of this blog would like them.”
That’s true–but let’s assume, for all intents and purposes, that the reason the protests were carried out was to call attention to, and to gather support for, the very real issues concomitant with the DeKalb PD’s unwarranted killings of two unarmed Black men. If a protest is carried out in a manner that serves to distract people from its intended purpose, then it hasn’t been successful. Your comments here, and some of the reactions to them, exemplify my expressed fears that the restaurant protests have served as a distraction from, rather than an emphasis of, the important civil rights ramifications behind the deaths of the two men on whose behalf the protestors are purportedly acting.
it seems like your issue here is that they didn’t have the protest you would have liked them to have had.
i guess that begs 2 questions:
1) why would you expect someone else to respond to the deaths of those two unarmed black men in the same way that you did?
2) did you have that superior protest that you outlined? in a more appropriate location, and with the focus exactly where you think it deserves to be? did we just not hear about it?
“it seems like your issue here is that they didn’t have the protest you would have liked them to have had.”
Well, it seems you’ve missed my point, which I thought was clear. But in answer to your questions:
1) No expectation that someone would’ve protested in the same ways I have, merely the expectation/hope that they would do so in a way that makes it about the victims, not the protesters themselves. Taking it out of a public forum and into a private one, especially where it’s not the forum that’s at issue (e.g., as in, if this were a sit-in at a restaurant that didn’t allow POC or gay folk) was a mistake.
2) There have already been “the protests [I] would have liked them to have had”–one just last week, right in the middle of downtown. I want people to be angry about these needless deaths & resolve to take affirmative steps to hold the authorities accountable–not to be angry & dismissive of the protests that we’re hoping will help effectuate that.
I’m not trying to change your mind, I’m just saying that when people try to make a point in a manner that almost guarantees that people will not see that point, but will instead focus solely upon the manner in which it was made, it’s inevitably an exercise in pointlessness.
“I’m not trying to change your mind, I’m just saying that when people try to make a point in a manner that almost guarantees that people will not see that point, but will instead focus solely upon the manner in which it was made, it’s inevitably an exercise in pointlessness.”
Agree. I generally support these protests, but I don’t understand the connection to restaurants here at all. Made perfect sense, obviously, when the protests were against segregated businesses in the 60s, but not in this situation. In my view, the focus would be best placed on prosecutors’ offices, since they are the ones largely responsible for whether or not police are held accountable for criminal behavior. Plus, the courthouse almost always has plenty of media around it.
Hyperbole much?
Even if every single server in the restaurants targeted were black, and every single customer was white, your characterization of all the diners, based on nothing more than assumptions, would be inaccurate.
So why were the protestors engaged in racial profiling?
Perhaps their message is “when white people get profiled, all that happens is their brunch gets interrupted.” I can think of a lot of worse ways to demonstrate the differences in life experiences based on skin color.
“Appropriate” protests are those which can be nodded at approvingly and subsequently ignored.
And “inappropriate” protests are those which can be nodded at disapprovingly and subsequently dismissed.
So which is the lesser of the two evils, in your opinion?
I don’t consider either form to be an evil. Demanding that aggrieved people act with all appropriate decorum is a time-tested method of making them go away, is my point.
“Demanding that aggrieved people act with all appropriate decorum is a time-tested method of making them go away, is my point.”
Nowhere in my comments do you see any such demand. The whole point of a protest is to get your message across in such a fashion that you can effect change, and that can be done quietly (e.g., Gandhi) or loudly (e.g., the “Occupy” protests)–but if it’s done in a way that the protest itself obscures the message, then it has failed. Period.
+ my usual million
Thank you for carrying forward the tricolor banner of reason, clarity and passion.
I’m not accusing you of anything, just bringing you up to speed on counter-demonstration tactics. “We support the right to protest, but {laundry list}…” is page one, paragraph one.
“…just bringing you up to speed on counter-demonstration tactics.”
Wow. That’s pretty presumptuous on your part. You know absolutely ZERO about me, or my experiences, or knowledge of protest/demonstration tactics. I’ve been a civil rights activist for over 3 decades, and I’ve marched in demonstrations on the Mall in DC, in the streets of Richmond, Virginia, in London (UK, not Kentucky), New York, and Atlanta, too. I’ve been in protests that got pretty hairy (one in which anti-choice activists threw rocks & shoes and spat at us– I still have a tiny scar on my collarbone where a particularly well-aimed rock found its mark). I’m no stranger to making my voice heard as loudly as possible. So forgive me if I take your “schooling” with the largest grain of salt possible.
I have a different perspective, based on my experiences. Those experiences tell me what works, and what doesn’t. I’m all for stirring people out of their comfort zone, but if you target the wrong audience with misguided tactics, the only thing you accomplish in the end is a dilution of your message. The best example I can think of is the gay activist who interrupted Mrs. Obama’s speech at a private fundraiser a couple years ago. She was protesting the fact that the President hadn’t signed an executive order prohibiting companies that do business with the federal government from discriminating against employees due to their sexual orientation–a worthy cause, for sure, but what happened? Mrs. Obama, rightly incensed, handed the activist her ass on a platter. So does anyone really focus on the activist’s actual cause when they recall that incident? Nope–they focus on the fact that Mrs. Obama stepped on that outburst right smart quick.
I don’t want the deaths of Kevin Davis & Anthony Hill to become footnotes to this protest, but they will, if people are too focused upon and/or perplexed by a protest that claims to be about them, but doesn’t really appear to be.
So given your expertise, what kind of protests do you think would be most effective?
OK, so you’re the one. 🙂
Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have a prescription for a perfect protest. Just as a general matter, however, I think protests in public forums tend to work best, because if you’re protesting somewhere that you have a right to be, it helps keep the message–rather than the method–at the forefront. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you were arrested for running a dog-fighting ring, but were let off with just a small fine. I and some other animal lovers find that repugnant, and want to make it known to the authorities that this was an unjustly light penalty. To do this, we decide to stage a sit-in. Would we get our message across more effectively if we came sat on your front porch & surrounded your house, or if we sat in and around the DeKalb County Courthouse? Would people who were uneducated but sympathetic to the issues of animal cruelty be more likely to support us if we occupied a public space, or if we invaded a private one (regardless of how just our cause)?
It’s not a perfect analogy, but I hope you understand my point.
I agree about public space being the appropriate forum. But why does it have to be outside the courthouse? What about sit-ins that would disrupt court sessions (especially ones, like traffic court, that generate revenue)?
It doesn’t have to be the courthouse–I was simply using that location as an illustration. But the courthouse is a public building, regardless of whether a protest was held in or out. Protests inside or outside of a public building generally have 1st Amendment protection; those held on private property don’t. I’m pretty sure you already understand this.
Oh, I was just being flip — I’m sure you have me beat on bonafides. I believe in the increasing value of civil disruption in protest, as we’ve become anaesthetized to the arm-in-arm “what do we want, when do we want it” style of demonstration. It does not, in my opinion, work very well anymore. Nor do appeals to our increasingly remote and beholden elected officials. Holders of legitimate grievances do not require a display of virtuousness in order for me to sign on.
I think you must have a very loose definition of what constitutes “a display of virtuousness”. But that’s fine–we’re allowed to disagree.
Total threadjack here, but just saw something on WSB about Laurus Technical College closing unexpectedly (this is the one near the probation office). Walked by there this morning and saw a bunch of people standing around in the parking lot and wondered what was going on. Guess that space will be available soon.
“Marie said this won’t be the last protest. In fact, they’ve got more planned in the upcoming weeks.”
“protesters opted for causing an inconvenience during brunch. seems fairly polite of them, all things considered.”
Inconvenience is another term for targeted economic disturbances to disrupt commerce. “Indeed, the actions that proved most effective in actually creating change, were precisely of that more disruptive ilk.”
Of course protest organizers can also be targeted with inconveniences designed to cause economic disturbances.
I protest brunch in and of itself. Worst meal to eat out. Nearly all of the dishes on the menu I can cook as well or better at home. And from a restauranteur’s standpoint, it’s one of the biggest money makers of the week because the ingredients themselves cost much less than dinner plate ingredients. On the other hand, if your aim is to get a little boozy on a Sunday afternoon, I fully support that. And before some folks flame me for making light of a serious discussion, buzz off. Levity is why I’m here.
Not to mention the long lines. Never understood why so many seem willing to stand around for 30 minutes or more to wait on eggs and pancakes.
I go to brunch often, and I don’t think I have ever waited more than ten minutes. And pancakes are for common folk. I have a sophisticated palate… 🙂
Feel free to invite me over to your house for your attempt at Homegrown’s Comfy Chicken Biscuit. I will be surprised if you pull it off. Either way, I will pay you half of what they charge. Win Win! And yes, we will be drinking.
I feel this way about steak houses. Though I don’t anymore, I could easily grill a grocery store steak as good as what they charge $35 + for at restaurants. It’s pretty much the only kind of restaurant I almost never set foot in.
Agreed.
Disagree as to high-end steakhouses. At the price range you are talking about ($35 plus) the restaurants are generally serving USDA prime beef, which you will have a very hard time finding at a supermarket. What you are buying over the counter is choice beef, which is good, but a big notch below prime. Moreover, at the best houses, they are dry aging the beef, which you really can’t do at home, either. (You can do a pale imitation in the fridge, but that’s about it.) And then you have cooking methods. At places like Chops, they are searing the beef in broilers at very high temperatures that you can’t achieve in a conventional home oven.
If you are paying close to $40 for steak at a restaurant and it’s not identified as prime, you are overpaying, big time. There are definitely steak houses out there selling choice at prime prices. And if you are being served choice, then I agree, you can make it just as well (or close) at home.
I agree with those who are saying the protesters knew what they were doing and they succeeded: they got us talking and they got attention for the issue even if many on this blog see it as negative. How many comments/how much discussion/notice were given to the protests in the Square compared to the ones that happened during Brunch this past Sunday? To me, our responses come across as extremely privileged and it is a good reminder to me that no matter how progressive I think I am and our community is, we don’t like to be made uncomfortable.
But the bulk of the conversation has been about the protest and the protesters, not about their purported message. The whole thing generated a lot of heat and little, if any, light.
Just because you don’t see comments on this blog (the commenters of which represent a relatively miniscule sampling of the area population) doesn’t mean it’s not being discussed outside this forum. I agree that some commenters here (not just in this thread) seem to post from a rather blinkered outlook, but that doesn’t represent the majority of folk to whom this issue is more than just a mention in the news.
I recognize that this blog (and the comments on Decaturish’s Fb page) are but a small slice but they are also how we present ourselves to the world. I think – and I include myself in this – we can be more visible in our support. The protesters didn’t just choose brunch spots, they publicized it on social media. They got our attention in many different ways. And even though many were annoyed by this attempt (and targeting of Decatur?) the reaction here seems to reinforce that we’ve become complacent.
Decatur Mayor Baskett comments on protests:
via Decaturish –
http://www.decaturish.com/2015/03/decatur-police-respond-to-calls-about-protests-during-sunday-brunch/
“Our police officers have responded appropriately and professionally by instructing protesters that they cannot protest on private property without permission from the owner. Further, that they can protest on public sidewalks as long as they do not obstruct others from using the sidewalks. If they want to have a parade they would need to secure a permit,” Baskett said. “In the future we would hope that if these individuals are interested in making a statement to DeKalb County that they would choose a venue more closely associated with the county.”