Janet Shan Talks to Bloomberg's Duane Stanford About Blacks Moving to Forsyth County With Its Extreme Racist Past

I am home sick with a terrible migraine headache & now vomiting, but felt a brief moment of joy when I was contacted by Bloomberg reporter, Duane Stanford, for interview about trend of blacks moving to Forsyth county, Ga. We had a great conversation through the pain I was feeling. If you know anything about Forsyth County, Ga., it was once a place that didn't welcome blacks. In fact, late civil rights activist Hosea Williams led a march there in 1987 was denigrated and called the N-word by a handful of whites. Here's the incident excerpted from Wikipedia:

In 1987 he led another internationally-covered march, this one consisting of 75 people in Forsyth County, Georgia, which at the time (before becoming a major exurb of northern metro Atlanta) had no non-white residents. He and the others were assaulted with stones and other objects by the KKK and other white supremacists. Another march the following week brought 20,000 people and an enormous showing of police and sheriff department officers, plus national media. Forsyth County, rapidly integrated following Hosea's demonstration, due, in part, to the availability of reasonably priced housing, a rarity in metro Atlanta. Forsyth is no longer considered merely an exurb of Atlanta but is a rapidly growing suburb.

For all those people, whether you are black, Asian, Latino or white, moving to Forsyth county, Hosea Williams played a great role in breaking down the barriers of racism that permeated the county for decades.  A little history on Forsyth county as excerpted from Wikipedia:

Before the fall of 1912 Forsyth County had a typical mix of races for the surrounding area. The 1910 census showed 10,847 white, 658 black, and 440 mulatto citizens. Making the number of black citizens at just over 5% of the population. The trouble began in Forsyth County in September 1912 when Ellen Grice claimed that she was the victim of an attempted assault and rape by two black men; the attempted assault occurred on Wednesday September 4, 1912 in her mother's home. Some people were arrested. On Saturday September 7, 1912, at a gathering of one of the local black churches in downtown Cumming, Grant Smith, a local black preacher, publicly questioned the character of the alleged victim. His comments enraged white citizens who then horse-whipped him. Smith was rescued by the police and locked in the courthouse for his own safety. Threats then emerged from groups of white and black citizens. Blacks threatened to dynamite the town. White citizens talked of breaking into the jail and lynching those that were being held for the heinous crimes.

My kids play soccer at the United Futbol Assn. in Cumming, Ga., which is in Forsyth county. I can honestly say I have never felt more welcome by many of the parents and my children get along with their teammates. Though many of the parents and their families are transplants from other cities, as we are. My youngest son had some issues with a team he was on last year, but I attributed that to the boys being older. I spoke with the team manager about his limited playing time and that was resolved quickly. I must add that the coach wasn't a white Southerner, he was a European immigrant. I must say, this season is great and he is very happy with his coach, who hails from Jamaica. Still, to all the people who are moving to Forsyth County, it is important for you to take the time to know the history of the county and to see how many areas have embraced change and diversity. Don't get me wrong, there are still racist people in Georgia and there are still some in Forsyth county, but I would like to believe the old way of thinking is being snuffed out by the influx of new residents to the county. Change is good, but you can't forget history.