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AN OFFICIAL OPINION WSB DICK MENDENHALL OF TELEVISION Editorial Director "FEBRUARY 28, 1963 · :THE BARRICADES DON'T 'WORK:: TAKE THEM DO'\'~JN Last Friday night, one of the barricades on Harlan Road w~:2, .:: t~e target of vandalism. Somebody sawed through it ,and tossed p art of it into a creek. We deplore this sort of thing. Those barricades, however poisonous ·and hateful they are, should be removed by the very agency which placed them there -- the City of Atlanta, acting of·f icially and with deliberation -- not by a bunch of race-baiters, do-gooders, or vandals. Yesterday, it was learned that more property had been purchased behind what is becoming known as Atlanta's "Little Berlin Wall" by a Negro real, estate man. So it seems, as we pointed out some weeks ago, the barricades aren'oe doing the job they w-., ·- "! supposed to do. These barricades, in fact,. show the world th:1.-t. Atlanta is losing its touch in maintaining good race relati-:.·;,.s . These barricades are a visible mockery of some ni.r:~ wo :;:a;:; m :ce pr:1.nt ·".-3 about our city in Time, of all Magazines, t h .::.t At .: .c~,:.:. . is a "city steeped in itz traditions but not mirP.d dm,"!l ; ) y them. ~l.'i"t~ s ·: barricades are causing the forces of understc:mdins- 2.ri:S. ccIT'.raon sense to split r ~nks and scatter, allied against e.~,.::,:1 e the r . Ironically, it r:; ~ems, these barricades are openi::-.g ·;.:~;.:.· ::l'.)od gates for propagz.nda, hate, and hallucination unkmr!:·.~- t o the Atlanta spirit. 11 And just what is the Atlanta "spirit?• Ivan Al.1·. :n, 0 c:..td.c-i .:: fa ther o-f our present Mayor -- once published a bo,=11~ 1,~'i:. 7.::. 1.v:~ ~.(f:. he said the Atla~ta spirit was a combination of "altitud :2: :'·: . -'.1 attitude," a combination equaling greatness • . Wj_th a g,,.2~:: 1:1 ::: :;.~- h J.c.::.J. location 1,050 feet above sea-level, making for goo1 rt?, ?. l t.~'1, a :.d a political and soci'ological location betwe~n extra.!l.e-'3 ., '.'l'. :-:-.1'.: J.:z<J for common sense, the elder Mr. Allen believed this Ai:~ ;::c::~t: "spirit" was the key to future progress. 1 Thanks to the vision of the senior Mr. All.en, and t r.; o t'!'lc :cs not the least o.f whom has been his own son, Mayo~-:: Ivan 'Al J :~':l Atlanta has indeed enjoyed progress and greatness. But now that's all threatened. Progress has come to a standstill at Peyt9n and Harlan Roads. The barricades are up, b ut they're not doing the job. They can't. It's time for the Board of Aldermen to take them down. T;his must not be left up to vandals and wildmen. It's the Aldennanic Board's job. These b arricades have given Atlanta a black eye, and they must be eliminated before the whole face of Atlanta is ruined. Take the b arricades down -- and make it official. ON PEACHTREE ' 1601 WEST PEACHTREE ST., N.E., ATLANTA 9, GA. , PHONE 875-7221 �