From “Dropout to Doctorate: Breaking the Chains of Educational Injustice” By Terrence Lester, PhD
Campbellton Road became concentrated with Black families due to the racial divide in the city of Atlanta. The implementation of segregation laws and discriminatory housing policies forced Black families into specific neighborhoods. These communities, like mine, were often overlooked. One of the reasons I know this historical discrimination lingered and had a social and environmental effect is because I lived there. I had friends whose parents would often talk about the Black struggle in front of us. I vividly remember one friend’s mother talking to another parent after football practice, saying, “ It’s hard being Black because to be Black is almost guaranteed that you are poor…” This statement has stuck with me since I was nearly ten years old. Similar to many American cities from the 1970s through the 1990s, Atlanta was predominantly populated by Black families who struggled with poverty.