One thing Georgia politics has never been short on is angry white men. Georgia’s first governor, William Ewen, was so uptight that he belonged to a group known as The Malcontents. Tom Watson, a U.S. senator from Georgia during the 1920s, had an antipathy toward blacks and Jews that was so intense that it was bronzed and placed at the footsteps of the state capitol, until his scowling sculpture was relocated just a few months ago.
The current torchbearer for the grumpy white male flame is state Rep. Sam Teasley (R-Marietta), who is the lead sponsor of the segregationist bill that would allow businesses to turn away LGBT customers on religious grounds. I doubt there are any statues of Teasley in the works, as his proposal ― which might’ve received near unanimous consent a decade ago ― seems doomed in the wake of the outrage to a similar bill in Arizona.
While I’m hopeful that Georgia’s “Turn Away the Gays” will wither in the General Assembly, I still feel like I’m haunted by the spirit of the Angry White Man during my daily commute.
Last November, MARTA unveiled a code of conduct that has been aggressively hyped as “Ride With Respect,” but whose first draft was likely titled, “Things Black People Need to Stop Doing so White People Will Experience Less Irrational Fear While on MARTA.”
The code of conduct echoes MARTA’s existing policies on food, vandalism and other benign nuisances of public transportation, but the marketing of “Ride With Respect” has been loaded with condescension and racial overtones.
The campaign’s signage has emphasized the prohibition of loud music, which a Florida murder trial recently reminded us is a euphemism for unruly black youth. MARTA boasts of creating a shadow judicial system with classes of violations, non-appealable suspensions and lifetime banishments because “everyone deserves to enjoy the ride.”
And who is everyone? According to a “Ride With Respect” poster, it’s a group of white folks going to a rock concert who need to know, “You’ll hear loud music once you get to Philips Arena, but not while you’re on MARTA.”
Another poster comforts nervous riders with a picture of a dopey giraffe and the suggestion, “Go to the zoo to see some animals, because you won’t see any on MARTA.”
This branding could be considered tone deaf were the history, clientele and perception of MARTA not so intractably influenced by skin color. Instead it seems sinister and patronizing for MARTA to lecture its existing ridership to sit more respectfully so “everyone” can enjoy the ride. In order to attract new users, MARTA has created a “Customer is Always Wrong” policy for its existing riders.
MARTA has an image problem, and feeds into it with exaggerated crackdowns and an institutional lack of self-awareness. For example, MARTA has two smartphone apps: one that features user-friendly schedules and real-time tracking of buses and trains, and a “See & Say” app that allows riders to report suspicious behavior.
I have been an everyday MARTA rider for almost a dozen years, and never once have I seen activity that would prompt me to report it to law enforcement officials. Useful and life-saving as such a tool might be one day, it certainly does not require a stand-alone app on my iphone.
Yet, it is “See & Say” that is the more heavily publicized MARTA app, with posters that feature a woman wearing a Middle Eastern head wrap in the center of unsuspecting commuters. MARTA officials are clueless not only about the security of their facilities, but also in their belief that rider misbehavior ― rather than shoddy service and abominable customer relations ― is what’s keeping new riders away.
As outlandish as “See & Say” and “Ride With Respect” have been, the most absurd communication from MARTA to its users is on the standard signage that outlines the dos and don’ts while riding MARTA. The list is what you would expect: no eating, drinking, smoking, littering, graffiti, etc.
It also includes a prohibition against carrying weapons, however there is an asterisk to this entry: “Except Firearms When Carrying a Valid Permit.” So in case there is any confusion, you can be suspended from MARTA for eating a candy bar or if your music blares too loudly from your headphones, but it’s entirely permissible for you to bring a loaded handgun on a bus or train.
If that is not a wink-and-nod to Angry White Men, I don’t know what is.