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OPINION — Metropolitan Atlanta is losing ground on providing locations not subject to the class-identity ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) charades.
This is not only grave news for attracting lucrative businesses to Georgia, but it also impacts the ideological upbringing of future generations.
Billionaire businessman Bill Ackman decided to research DEI and its impact on business. He concluded, “DEI was not about diversity in its purest form, rather DEI was a political advocacy movement on behalf of certain groups that are deemed oppressed under DEI’s own methodology.” Ackman continued, “When one examines DEI and its ideological heritage, it does not take long to understand that the movement is inherently inconsistent with basic American values.”
Once bastions of conservative politics, counties such as Gwinnett, Cobb, North Fulton, Henry, and Douglas dissolve into the same left-of-center ideology as South Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton.
If the state legislature continues to maintain a pro-business Republican majority, Fayette County and Forsyth County might have an advantage when out-of-state businesses are looking for a new location.
The situation
Gwinnett County might be the perfect example nationally of a county transformed from a rural locale to a traffic-congested, overbuilt nightmare in the shortest period. Because of its extended access to Interstate 85, Gwinnett used to be an attractive site location for incoming corporate interests.
As positive statistics waned in predominately Democrat South Fulton and DeKalb, Gwinnett became the go-to spot for new business. Unfortunately, the county went from good to bad as people tied to the real estate development industry were elected to county and city offices.
Gwinnett officials always appeased the real estate developers while neglecting infrastructure and quality of life issues. They are now packing the huge throngs of new residents in the thousands upon thousands of new in-fill apartment complexes while entire shopping centers go vacant, and businesses go elsewhere.
The inept Republican leadership in Gwinnett fumbled, creating a retail-wage environment where low rent is an attraction. The lower income influx ushered in the Democrat wave and the new era of Democrat DEI leadership.
The ideology has now shifted away from pro-business shareholder interest to left-leaning “stakeholder” interest. In 2021, Nick Masino, President & CEO, of Gwinnett Chamber announced, “The Gwinnett Chamber recognizes, now, more than ever, that diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental growth drivers across all businesses in our community.”
Gwinnett’s DEI fate is mirrored in North Fulton. In fact, Forsyth County grew rapidly as affluent homeowners fled Gwinnett and North Fulton for a better environment.
The DEI direction
Some determined left-leaning state and local governments across the nation are moving to change society through their authority to impact business. Government regulation is a cost of doing business and a powerful weapon in forcing ideology in their communities. Metro Atlanta is beginning to move in that direction.
Locally, the City of Atlanta is the cutting edge of the involuntary diversity, equity, and inclusion crusade.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Atlanta is doubling down on its equity efforts. The Mayor’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (MOEDI) works to create “behavioral change solutions” that “advance equitable outcomes” (see: https://www.atlantaga.gov/government/mayor-s-office/executive-offices/office-of-equity-diversity-and-inclusion).
Notice that the city’s goal is outcomes and not opportunities. To drive those equal outcomes, the city enacts mandatory behavioral changes. It’s reminiscent of Mao Zedong’s reeducation camps where political prisoners and nonpolitical prisoners were forced to conform to communist thought under the guise of promoting equal outcomes for all.
To make his point, Mayor Dickens issued the “Inclusive Language and Action Administrative Order” (see excerpt below).
Dickens is promoting coercive persuasion and thought control through mandatory re-education. The city staff and their extended audience will have to conform to the approved “mental model shift” leading to a “systemic shift” in beliefs and action, ensuring that the people in power will not be hurt or offended.
Dickens and his Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion released a language guide for reeducating those not conforming to the “ultimate organizational transformation.”
In the preface, Dickens says, the “Inclusive Language Guide is not just a mere set of linguistic guidelines, it is a testament to our dedication to growth and transformation with equity, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront.”
The language guide instructs the newly reeducated not to say “minorities,” and to use “Latinx” to describe people from Latin America. Additionally, the reeducated are commanded to never use the phrases “biologically male, biologically female, genetically male, genetically female, born a man, [or] born a woman.”
The reeducated are directed to call “homeless” people “unhoused” instead. Likewise, never use the terms “illegal immigrant, alien, illegals, or illegal worker.”
Of course, the reeducation on linguistics is only a precursor to the compulsory ideological actions that create “equitable outcomes.”
Watch as Atlanta begins to mimic New York, Chicago, and all of California with legislative efforts to manipulate businesses into abiding by their ideology.
Predictable results
We do not need a crystal ball to see what the future holds if DEI policies continue to clamp down on businesses and individuals in metro Atlanta. California is a decade ahead of us on the ideological transformation front.
Residents and business headquarters are leaving California, and at an increasing rate (see: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adammillsap/2021/08/27/businesses-are-fleeing-california-along-with-its-residents-and-president-biden-should-pay-attention/?sh=157896f52327).
From January 2018 to June 2021, California lost 265 corporate headquarters.
The mandates in California and its cities will take your breath away. From dictating the allowance of legalized stealing from retail stores to forcing all-electric freight trucks to imposing “climate reporting” laws on every facet of business.
California is mandating $20 per hour for fast-food restaurant workers. Likewise, any retailer that has toys in their product line will be fined if they do not sell gender-neutral in their stores. And they wonder why businesses are leaving.
As the rest of metro Atlanta drifts towards California-like fanatical ideology, other counties in Georgia like Fayette can reap significant rewards by moving in the other direction.
Dying from within
The ultimate target for the far-left activists is our children. The efforts to force our children to upend cultural norms are powerful and have gotten wildly psychotic and dramatically inappropriate. Some of the most noted examples are drag queen story times in public libraries and the corruption of textbooks, library selections, and lessons taught in public schools.
Many young children are also motivated to question their sex and gender while offered government assistance for drug and surgical treatments without parental consent.
The easiest way to decimate a community is to compel future generations to rebel. Convincing young children to question their biological being, creating value judgments based on skin color, and promoting mathematics and Western culture as racist are just some of the ploys used to achieve the “mental model shift” leading to the “systemic shift” toward Marxist ideology.
The Georgia legislature passed several bills placing the responsibility of a child’s education back into the hands of parents.
The new laws include The Parents’ Bill of Rights (https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/61677) and the Protect Students First Act banning the teaching of “divisive concepts” on race (https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/6147).
Kemp says the new laws put “students and parents first by keeping woke politics out of the classroom.” However, parents must be willing to be more active in their child’s education.
Even with the recent legislative efforts, the pervasive messaging on social media and the Marxist undercurrent in our universities might be too strong to prevent future generations from creating a business debacle like California here in Georgia.
Pivotal Moment
Being receptive to the out-of-state corporations fleeing the left-leaning tyrannical mandates would bring some long-term success.
Can the elected leadership in Fayette County agree to become the pro-business, quality-of-life niche market in metro Atlanta without the California and Illinois-style craziness? It’s possible.
We have some elected officials who embrace DEI and forced equitable outcomes, but they are in the minority (can’t say “minority” in Atlanta) currently.
What type of business environment do you want to see in Fayette County? Let your elected officials know your thoughts.
[Brown is a former mayor of Peachtree City and served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. You can read all his columns by clicking on his photo below.]
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