Over 140 years and they're still at it in the South

The rich white suburbs of Atlanta want to secede from the rest of the city.

ATLANTA Jan 23, 2007 (AP)— A potentially explosive dispute in the City Too Busy to Hate is taking shape over a proposal to break Fulton County in two and split off Atlanta's predominantly white, affluent suburbs to the north from some of the metropolitan area's poorest, black neighborhoods.

Legislation that would allow the suburbs to form their own county, to be called Milton County, was introduced by members of the Georgia Legislature's Republican majority earlier this month.

Supporters say it is a quest for more responsive government in a county with a population greater than that of six states. Opponents say the measure is racially motivated and will pit white against black, rich against poor.

"If it gets to the floor, there will be blood on the walls," warned state Sen. Vincent Fort, an Atlanta Democrat and member of the Legislative Black Caucus who bitterly opposes the plan. Fort added: "As much as you would like to think it's not racial, it's difficult to draw any other conclusion."

To be fair to my friends in the South, this is not something unique to the South. Right here in the liberal northeast we have the same thing happening. There have been moves by the towns of Millburn, NJ, Roseland, NJ, and Montclair, NJ to secede from Essex County, which also includes the City of Newark for very much the same reasons.