SectionSection44 SSectionection PPreviewreview As you read, look for: in a New • the state flag issue, • the development of a two- Century party system in Georgia, • challenges facing Georgians, At the start of a new millennium, Georgians faced some old problems and and some new challenges. • vocabulary terms: Georgia Regional Transportation Roy E. Barnes Authority. In 1998, Georgians sent Democrat Roy E. Barnes to the Governor’s Man- sion. Barnes, a native of Mableton and a graduate of the University of Geor- gia, had served in the Georgia legislature for twenty-four years. His campaign for the governor’s seat in 1998 was the costliest in the state’s history, as Demo- crats fought to hang onto a governorship that they had held for 125 years. His term was marked by efforts to change the state flag, transportation projects such as the Northern Arc, and education reform.

The State Flag Issue In 1956, Georgia’s state flag was changed to incorpo- rate the St. Andrew’s cross, a Confederate battle emblem. The flag has long been a subject of controversy and di- vision within the state. African Americans were offended by references to the slavery in the state’s past. Many modern leaders were offended by the image of a state caught up in its past instead of its future. The use of the Confederate symbol was damaging Georgia’s tourist industry, costing the state millions in lost convention and exhibition dollars, and portraying a negative “old- fashioned southern” impression of Georgia to the world’s businesses. Other southern states that had used the battle symbol as a part of their flags found their tourism and resort industries damaged as conventions were cancelled and boycotts scheduled. The state that had hosted Su- per Bowls and the Olympics wanted to project a more modern image to the world. Above: The state flag Civic leaders, businessmen and developers, leaders of the hospitality in- from 1956 to 2001, seen dustry, the powerful Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, the legislative here flying in front of the Black Caucus, and developers called on Governor Barnes to change the flag. state Capitol, included a Atlanta architect Cecil Alexander designed a new flag that featured the state representation of the seal in the center. Below the seal, a banner showed small images of Georgia’s Confederate battle flag. first three state flags and the first and the current images of the U.S. flag. The motto “In God We Trust” appeared below the banner. The flag was introduced shortly after the 2001 legislative session got un- derway. With almost no time for discussion and dissent, the flag passed the house on January 24, 2001, and the Senate on January 30. On January 31,

486 Chapter 13: Peace, Prosperity, and Peril Governor Barnes signed the bill authorizing the new flag into law. Most Top: The current flag was Georgians saw the new flag in the next day’s newspapers and on TV news introduced in 2003 and reports and were shocked at the speed of the change. The equally swift reac- approved by the state’s voters tion could have been predicted. in 2004. Above: The state Those citizens who saw the 1956 flag as a memorial to the Confederate flag from 2001 to 2003 war dead and the proud heritage of a people and a region were outraged that included depictions of three it had been changed. Others who saw the 1956 flag as a symbol of racism of Georgia’s previous flags. were glad for the change but upset that the 2001 flag still contained any Con- Many Georgians did not like federate emblem. The 2001 flag had few supporters. Critics even remarked this flag. that it would be too difficult for elementary school children to draw. In the 2000 election, Barnes’s Republican opponent, , made the changes in the flag a major campaign issue. Those who were offended that the flag had been changed voted against Barnes, and he was not re-elected. Newly elected Governor Sonny Perdue signed a new state flag into law on May 8, 2003. Georgia was to have its third state flag in under thirty months. Georgia’s 2003 flag was based on the first national flag of the Confederacy. It is a field of three horizontal bars, two red and one white. In the upper left corner is a square blue section containing Georgia’s coat of arms and the words “In God We Trust.” Surrounding the coat of arms is a circle of thirteen white stars representing the original thirteen states. In March 2004, the people of Georgia voted 3-1 in favor of keeping the 2003 flag as the state flag. While changing Georgia’s state flag may well have cost Barnes the re-elec- tion, he was honored by the John F. Kennedy Foundation with a Profiles in Courage Award in May 2003.

Section 4: Georgia in a New Century 487 Highway Issues ocus on the nvironment Governor Barnes had to deal Focus on the Environment with the staggering air pollution and traffic congestion caused by GlobalGlobal WarmingWarming urban sprawl, particularly in the CbCbCb Metropolitan Atlanta area. He also had to confront environ- Many of the world’s scientists mental groups who believed believe that emissions of carbon di- that development was con- bCbCbCoxide and other gases function like suming about 50 acres of the glass in a greenhouse to trap green space each day. Most heat within the Earth’s atmosphere. immediately, he had to re- This trapped heat leads to a process verse the suspension of fed- CbCbCbcalled global warming. These scien- eral funds for highway pro- tists (and not all scientists agree jects in the thirteen-county with the global warming theory) ar- metropolitan area because of gue that over a period of time, the bCbCbC Georgia’s failure to meet fed- global warming of Earth’s atmo- eral Clean Air standards. sphere will cause glaciers to melt, Working with the Gen- sea levels to rise, land surface eral Assembly, Barnes cre- CbCbCbboundaries to change, and the ated the Georgia Regional world’s ecosystems to change dras- Transportation Authority tically. What can be done to reduce (GRTA) in 1999. GRTA was global warming? bCbCbC charged with combating air Almost all energy experts and scientists can agree on one step that would pollution, traffic congestion, and improve the ’s production of greenhouse gases—improving poorly planned development in the fuel economy of motor vehicles. Technology is available to improve the the metropolitan region. It worked CbCbCbfuel economy of cars and trucks, and environmental leaders argue that such with the counties in the metropoli- technology would not be too costly and would greatly reduce emissions of tan area that were not meeting fed- carbon monoxide. However, such changes would cause major shifts in eral ozone standards—Cherokee, America’s automotive and oil industries and would certainly require that bCbCbC Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Americans give up their fuel-guzzling, fast and sleek cars. Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Scientists argue that the nation should move away from a dependence Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding, and on fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas and find other sources of Rockdale counties. As it succeeded CbCbCbenergy. They urge us to begin to rely on renewable energy resources such in its task, GRTA was designed to as solar power. Alternative energy sources, however, have both advantages give Georgia access to billions in and disadvantages. federal highway funds that had Global warming would, according to climate specialists, be a worldwide been frozen. bCbCbCcatastrophe. Are they correct? And, can we do more in our own country? The transportation plan devel- Use your research skills to learn more about global warming and the con- oped by GRTA was approved, and troversy over what steps to take in Georgia, in the United States, and in highway funds were released for the world. CbCbCb Georgia’s metropolitan area road building projects. However, one part of the GRTA transportation plan faced a great deal of opposition. The so-called Northern Arc was a $2 billion, 59-mile freeway through four counties in the northern tier of Met- ropolitan Atlanta.

488 Chapter 13: Peace, Prosperity, and Peril Finally, as his term drew to a close, Gover- nor Barnes was forced to put the Northern Arc Figure 45 plans on hold because of the opposition. His Building Blocks for Educational Reform successor, Sonny Perdue, had campaigned against the Northern Arc claiming that it In testifying before a national Committee on Education and the would not be a part of his transportation Workforce in February 2001, Governor Barnes described four plans at all. building blocks for educational reform:

Education Reform Issues 1. Great teaching; Despite the educational improvements 2. Leadership that is committed to serving the best interests and increased spending under Governors of children; Busbee, Harris, and Miller, Georgia’s schools were still ranked at or near the bottom on 3. Willingness to use innovation rather than defending the most national comparisons. Scholastic Apti- status quo; tude Tests for college admissions showed that Georgia’s high school graduates were not 4. Accountability . . . Absolute standards must be used in or- prepared to compete with the young people der to measure the success of educational reform. of other states. Business leaders in Georgia complained that graduates could not do the Below: Governor Barnes visiting an elementary school class. jobs created by our technologically advanced, information-age economy. Continuing prob- lems with school drop-outs and social pro- motions had led to only minimal gains in student achievement even as education fund- ing had risen. Under Governor Barnes’s leadership, school construction and renovation in- creased. By the opening day of school in 2002, the size of kindergarten and primary grade classes had been reduced, pre-kinder- garten had spread throughout Georgia, and nurses had been added in every school sys- tem. The state had even funded counselors and technology specialists. Millions of federal and state dollars had been poured into inno- vative reading programs. Early intervention programs provided assistance for those who could not keep up. Additional funds had been provided for after-school programs and summer programs. Despite those actions, student achievement was not sufficient. Gover- nor Barnes focused on the poor quality of the state’s schools. He worked with the General Assembly to create the Office of Educational Account- ability in 2001. He called for more testing of Georgia’s students. He wanted grade promotions based on student achievement and standardized testing. He proposed performance ratings for Georgia’s schools and state takeover of failing schools. However, Governor Barnes was not re-elected in 2002, and many of his suggestions were not implemented by his successor.

Section 4: Georgia in a New Century 489 ★ ★ ★ American★ Spotlightpotlight★★ OprahOprah WinfreyWinfrey

Few Americans have had more of Choice awards, and Horatio Alger★ ★an impact than Oprah Gail Winfrey. awards. Since 1998, she has consis- Winfrey is an icon among television ce- tently been named one of the most lebrities and one of the world’s most powerful people in show business. recognized and respected women. However, she may be best remem- Born January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, bered for the social and philanthropic Mississippi, she overcame many per- causes she has championed. One of her sonal obstacles to become a million- most successful projects★ is Oprah’s aire businesswoman, an accomplished Book Club. The books she features are ★actress, a television and movie pro- often literary novels that do not attract duction company owner, a syndicated large audiences but that do offer an talk show hostess, and a major philan- uplifting spirit and message for the read- thropist. ers. Another successful project is After graduating from Tennessee Oprah’s Angel Network, started in State University with a degree in 1997, which raises money for college speech communications and theater, scholarships and funds to reward people★ Winfrey knew that she wanted to en- Above: In 1999, Winfrey received a for using their lives to help others. On ★ter broadcasting. She served as a re- National Book Foundation award. her show, Oprah established the world’s porter and co-anchor of a Baltimore “largest piggy bank,” and viewers all television news broadcast in the late 1970s. From Baltimore, over the country sent in more than $1 million to send disad- she went to Chicago, where she was the anchor of “A.M. vantaged children to college. Winfrey matched the money Chicago,” a morning talk show. There she found the televi- raised dollar for dollar. She is involved with the Habitat for sion format that suited her personality perfectly. Within a year, Humanity program, which builds houses for needy Americans, the show was renamed the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and was and with A Better Chance program, which funds scholarships expanded to a full hour. In 1985, her show was syndicated for inner-city youths to attend college preparatory★ schools. to over 120 American cities and rose to the top of the charts, She had attacked the AIDs epidemic in Africa through her ★where it has remained ever since. Her television audience Angel Network. Because of her international stature, Winfrey now includes over 15 million viewers daily in our country and was chosen to co-host a memorial service held at Yankee millions more in 132 other countries of the world. Stadium in New York for the victims of the September 11 By 1996, she was one of the world’s highest paid enter- terrorist attacks. tainers according to Forbes magazine. She also began a Her personal philosophy has been to use her celebrity lifestyle magazine for women called O, The Oprah Winfrey status as a force for good in the world. She said, in an in- Magazine. Winfrey started her own motion picture and terview in Redbook magazine, “My prayer★ to God every television production company, Harpo, Inc. morning on my knees is that the power that is in the uni- ★ Winfrey has collected numerous Emmys for having verse should use my life as a vessel, or a vehicle, for its television’s best talk show, an Academy Award nomination work.” You will have to agree, when you examine the causes for her acting in The Color Purple, Performer of the Year Oprah Winfrey champions and the accomplishments she awards, Woman of the Year Achievement awards, People’s has attained, that her prayer is being answered. ★490★Chapter 13: ★Peace, Prosperity, and ★Peril ★★ Georgia Elects a Republican Governor In November 2002, Perry native Sonny Perdue was elected Georgia’s first Republican governor in 130 years. In that same election, the Democratic party maintained con- trol of the General Assembly, but voters chose Republicans for the U.S. Senate seat and the majority of rep- resentatives for the U.S. House. Geor- gia had a two-party system for the first time since before the Civil War. Challenges for the Future There are three issues that continue to demand the attention of Georgia Above: Georgia Governor politicians and citizens—water resources, the differences between urban and Sonny Perdue (center) and rural Georgia, and Georgia’s tremendous growth in population. Senator Water resources are limited in the state as development and population (left) appeared with President growth, especially in the Metropolitan Atlanta and north Georgia areas, have Bush on one of his trips to increased usage. Farmers in south Georgia complain that Metropolitan Atlanta our state. uses too much water and pollutes the rivers feeding the southern agricultural area. Saltwater has seeped into the coastal water basins. Both Florida and Ala- bama have tried for years to reach an agree- ment with Georgia on reducing our state’s water consumption; they continue to threaten Figure 46 Key Issues, 2004 court action if agreements cannot be reached. Federal officials have threatened the state with Some of the key issues facing Governor Perdue and the the loss of federal funds if more is not done to General Assembly include: correct pollution in the state’s streams, lakes, and rivers. Planning the future of this essen- • Saving the HOPE scholarship program when scholarship ex- tial resource is an ongoing concern. penditures are about to exceed lottery revenues The continued growth in northern Geor- gia has served only to divide the rural, south- • Developing legislation to protect children ern sections of the state from the rest of Reforming ethics legislation Georgia. Inequities between the two areas • occur not only in population, services, busi- • Resolving whether public displays of the ten commandments nesses and industries, but also in education. are legal Even though state leaders have tried to equal- ize education funding throughout the state, • Helping Atlanta fund infrastructure needs such as replac- the areas of economic growth and prosper- ing an aging sewer system ity have greater tax bases to support local school costs. Finding ways to lessen the bur- • Dealing with the outcome of the 2004 vote on the state flag den on rural county property owners with- out sacrificing urban schools is an ongoing • Dealing with state and local spending on education challenge.

Section 4: Georgia in a New Century 491 Finally, the state’s leaders must find a way to handle Georgia’s tre- mendous population growth. Geor- gia is the tenth most populous state, with over 8 million residents. The 2000 census showed a population increase of 26 percent. But Georgia must also find ways to preserve some green space in the state’s environ- ment, to protect coastal marsh areas threatened by over-development, and to provide the infrastructure to serve the rising population. How Georgia’s leaders and citizens handle these problems will determine much about our state’s future. A Final Note The character word for the chap- ter is pride. To have pride is to have a sense of your own worth or to be satisfied with your achievements. For example, you can be proud of a good grade on a test for which you studied hard. You might be proud of something that makes you you— your heritage, your family, your school, your church, or the town in which you live. Make a list of five things for which you are proud. Now, think of ten years from now. What other traits or Top: There are many users of accomplishments would you like to be proud of? For example, you might Georgia’s water resources. be proud of graduating from college or technical school or be proud of be- Government must find a way ing a caring spouse. to balance the needs of You decide. Put your two lists in a “time capsule” and keep them safe. Every industry, agriculture, cities three years, open the capsule and see how you are doing. and towns, individuals, and environmentalists. Above: One of the problems caused IIt’st’s YYourour TTurnurn by the tremendous growth in the Atlanta area has been 1. How do you feel about Georgia’s state flag? What would you traffic congestion. have done differently if you had been in charge? 2. Describe at least two key issues Governor Barnes faced during his term. 3. Explain at tleast four of the issues facing Governor Perdue. 492 Chapter 13: Peace, Prosperity, and Peril Chapter Summary • The Cold War ended in the early 1900s with the collapse of the Soviet Union. • Georgia’s population has grown steadily since the 1960s. • Under Governor , Georgia improved its educational sys- tem, expanded economic development, and revised its constitution. • Voters approved the state’s tenth constitution in 1982, and it took ef- fect in 1983. • Governor expanded economic and educational improve- ments in the state, including the Quality Basic Education Act. • The World Congress Center, the Georgia Dome, and Centennial Olym- pic Park make up one of the world’s largest convention, sports, and entertainment centers. Above: Governor Sonny • The two-Georgia argument dividing rural and urban areas began in the Perdue was the first early 1980s and continues today despite state efforts to pour economic Republican elected to that development funds into rural counties. office in more than 125 years. • The U.S. was involved in Operation Desert Storm (the Persian Gulf War) after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. • Georgia political leaders in the 1990s included Newt Gingrich, John Lewis, Sam Nunn, and . • Under Zell Miller, Georgia established a state lottery and used the funds for scholarships, technology programs in schools, and a statewide pre- kindergarten program. • Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics in 1996. • The World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon were the targets of international terrorism on September 11, 2001. • After September 11, 2001, the United States was involved in two wars —Operation Enduring Freedom against Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom with Iraq. • Georgia leaders removed the Confederate battle emblem from the state’s flag, and controversy ensued. The state has had three flags in a period of about thirty months. • Education improvements featuring accountability were a focus of Gov- ernor as the 1090s ended. • In 2002, Republican Sonny Perdue was the first Republican elected since Reconstruction. • By 2002, Georgia had a viable two-party political system.

Section 4: Georgia in a New Century 493