The Black Mecca By William Martin Luther King Jr.

Bittersweet Auburn Atlanta, dubbed the â€Å"Black Mecca† by historians, has had its fair share of diverse African American experiences within its borders. Being the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. was just one of its many claims to fame. But its most important claim happened to be that of Sweet Auburn. Sweet Auburn, the term coined by civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs once described the fruitful Auburn Avenue that runs through the heart of Atlanta. Sweet Auburn embodied the height of the African American experience here in America. This district reflected the many struggles of blacks in America at the time. Sweet Auburn held a piece of discrimination, entrepreneurship, political economy and community all within its small 7 block†¦show more content†¦Sweet Auburn gave blacks the ability to have a real say in the politics of Atlanta. Without the district, Atlanta might not have seen the strong African American presence in its legislature as it does today. Atla nta prides itself on being the home of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and yet the street he used to live on looks like the slums. The buildings in which he met with the SCLC look like the slums. The streets in which he and his wife are memorialized today resemble the slums. The once Sweet Auburn, is now the slums and her demise primarily at the hands of Atlanta. On more than one occasion the city of Atlanta condemned Sweet Auburn in interests of their own personal gain. In 1996, Atlanta acquired the Olympics and the big pay day that came with it. In order to profit as well, if businesses wanted to be venders for the Olympics they had to buy licenses to sell to the incoming tourist. These licenses cost sum of nearly 10,000 dollars. Numerous venders from the sweet auburn district and surrounding black Atlanta bought licenses and the city in turn rerouted the tourists away from black Atlanta in turn robbing the community of its opportunity to vend and the money paid for the license. This was just one of the many ways Atlanta robbed the black community in turn condemning it to its unfortunate future. But the most important jab Atlanta took at black Atlanta was when Atlanta was offered the