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Overcoming prejudice




Former Klan hotbed elects first black mayor

November 16, 1997

STONE MOUNTAIN, Georgia (AP) -- By the light of a blazing cross, the Ku
Klux Klan proclaimed its 20th century rebirth on the granite mountain
that gives the town its name. For decades, white-hooded Klansmen flocked
here for annual gatherings, and Confederate heroes are sculpted into
the side of the mountain.

Today, the mayor's office once held by an imperial wizard of the Klan
is about to be filled by a black man, who also lives in the former KKK
leader's house.

Elected with biracial support, Chuck Burris is more concerned about
getting new sidewalks and more police than with Stone Mountain's old
image of racial division.

Burris, a city councilman, defeated a six-year incumbent in the November
4 election and will lead a black majority City Council in January.

Campaign didn't focus on race
<snip>
'We wanted the best-qualified candidate'
<snip>
New mayor lives in house that belonged to Klan wizard

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>From cnn.com.
If the birthplace of the KKK can rise above its racial prejudice, is it
too much to ask the same of ourselves?