Culture Of Atlanta

The Culture of Atlanta, Georgia

Ansley Siebold
University of Kentucky

Culture Of Atlanta

Abstract
The content of this essay will discuss the overall culture in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the
information in the essay will be the various aspects in Georgia that play into forming the true,
diverse culture in the city. The essay focuses on areas like business, education, historical
significance, and typical city life. It highlights how factors like the business industry play into
the reasoning why those residents of Atlanta lack a southern drawl, where it is prevalent in
surrounding cities and states. I also identified the culture that is stereotyped by those who do not
live in Georgia and then compared it to what the true residents of Atlanta thought their stereotype
was.

Culture Of Atlanta

The Culture of Atlanta, Georgia

From an outsider looking in, the city of Atlanta has always seemed to be different from
other metropolitan areas. The citys strong, diverse culture plays off many different aspects
throughout the city, for example the people who come in and out of Atlanta play a part in
forming the diversity. I would simply define Atlantas culture as diverse. Theres no one single
label one can put on the city without identifying the various aspects that play into that label. The
aspects that I found that assist in defining Atlanta as a city are the business men and women that
are continuously moving in and out of the city, which is a result of why Atlanta has no strong
evidence of a southern accent. The education system in Atlanta plays a role in keeping students
in the state of Georgia. The city is also prominently known as being the Epicenter of Black
Culture (Trip Advisor) for Atlanta was home to Martin Luther King Jr., which is now open for
tourists. Atlanta was also historically active by being one of the battle sights during the Civil
War, and more recently was the host to the first Olympics hosted in the Unites States in 1996.
Lastly, the amount of entertainment and variety of activities or events to do is endless in the city
and even suburbs of Atlanta.
Stereotypes

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When I first met Erin and Connor, the two I interviewed, who are both in my Living
Learning Program, one of the first characteristics that stood out to me was that they both lacked
the southern accent that is prevalent in areas of Georgia and other surrounding Southern States. I
made the assumption that all those living in Atlanta lacked the Southern Drawl. When I asked
Connor or his view of the stereotype in Atlanta he gave an opposition of my thoughts when he
stated, I feel like people from out of state would think of Atlanta as a bunch of rednecks but its
really as much of a city as any other city in my opinion. I thought of Atlanta as one of the most
dominating cities in American because of abundance of major corporations, big businesses, and
vast entertainment industry. Erin noted that people come into Atlanta with the fear that because
its a big city, theres high chance for crime, which is partially accurate. Lastly, Atlanta stood out
to me as a place where African Americans could dominate in aspects of business, entertainment,
and politics.

The real Culture

Erin and Connor revealed the real culture in Atlanta when they stated that the majority of the
people in Atlanta are accustomed to the city life. Everyone likes being close to any store or
product they need, and enjoy being busy and having places to go and things to do in their free
time. One of the biggest changes for Erin and Connor when transitioning from Atlanta to
Lexington was the fact that there was so much free space. They both agreed that they were
overwhelmed by the amount of grass and open fields in Kentucky. They were accustomed to
stores everywhere and a lack of space, whereas here someone would have to drive fifteen to
twenty minutes to get to the mall or even the grocery store.

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They added that although the accent was not prevalent in the true city of Atlanta, the
areas surrounding Atlanta, like the suburbs, had people with the accent attached with the rest of
Georgia. Furthermore, they stated that another reason the accent may be present was if a family
had lived in the area for several years and generations, then the accent would just come naturally.
Someone would have to move to the outskirts of Atlanta to find a deep southern drawl. It stood
out me when Erin and Connor stated that people in the Northern part of Georgia stay in up north
and those from the Southern area typically stay south because it is similar with the ways of
Kentucky. People from Northern Kentucky do not even like to own up to living up north but say
they are from Ohio. There is also a definite difference in the accents between northern and
southern Kentucky.
Business in Atlanta
The business world in Atlanta controls the entire culture in Atlanta. It plays into the
aspect of the traffics, and also play into the point of why people in Atlanta lack the accent. Sack
(2001.) stated, The question is not an insignificant one in a city that drew 17 million tourists and
conventioneers last year. With people constantly coming in and out of Atlanta it would be hard
to define and accent where people from everywhere across the country are coming in for
business. The accents mix and with Atlanta being so massive in the business world, an accent
would not be picked up in the city. I believe the professional aspect also plays into the
deteriorating accent, business men and women want the vibe to be extremely professional and
some may feel that the accent is unprofessional. The stereotype of someone with a deep southern
accent is generally that they are uneducated and slow talkers.

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The Hartsfield-Jackson airport is known as the hub for people of business. Connor
described it as a nightmare when it came to traffic. Atlanta is also home to corporations like
Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Delta Airlines, as well as Companies like At&t, Verizon, and CNN.
The CDC headquarters is in operation of Atlanta, which draws many people in for the health
aspect.
Education
The education system in Atlanta was described by my interviewees as being quite large
but limiting. Almost twenty different schools made up each county and come graduating classes
ranged anywhere from 300-100. Erin attended an all-girl private school and shared that public
and private schools were the same size. All schools in the Atlanta area are known to be large and
are typically located in the suburbs or surrounding areas of Atlanta, and there are about
seventeen different counties. Graduating classes in Atlanta were close to double the size of my
entire high school.
Erin confided that there was a strong push by school counselors to attend college in their
home state of Georgia. Students were often discouraged in going out of state. Erin came to the
University of Kentucky because her major was not offered in any university in Georgia. It
seemed that both Erin and Connor were relieved to be getting away from the people they had
been going to school with for the past several years. Connor stated,
Its really true, your entire high school goes to the same college so you wouldnt really
meet anyone new, youre with the same people would were with for the past 4-8 years
depending on how long you knew them.

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I expressed the same opinion when it came to choosing a school because there is a strong push
for students to attend Western Kentucky University, which is where the majority of seniors
attended that graduated from my high school.
Epicenter of Black Culture
According to TripAdvisor Atlanta is greatly commended for being one of the most
culturally diverse and accepting cities, stating that, Atlanta has typically exhibited a greater
degree of cooperation between the races, allowing both black and white residents to focus on
what the city does best: business. The article stated that Atlanta was also referred to as the
epicenter of black culture, saying that the majority of politicians, judges, and leaders were
known to be African American. When I asked Erin and Connor to back up that statement they
said they thought that a few judges were African American, but they were not fully exposed to
the political aspect of Atlanta.
Many remarkable historic figures are from Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is home to one of
the most the renowned civil rights leaders, Martin Luther King Jr. His home is located in Atlanta
as well as the Lorraine, the hotel he was assassinated in. The hotel is now a Civil Rights
Museum, which has sparked controversy among some. In the novel, Majic Bus, (Brinkley, 1994)
the students are o traveling cross country and stopping in various historical cities as a different
method of college education. While in Atlanta they toured the Lorraine where they encountered
Jaqueline Smith, who was known to have camped out across the street for many years to protest
the sacred ground of Martin Luther King Jrs death sight to be violated and exploited as a
museum. The memorials and buildings related to Dr. King are seen as scared to the majority of
the people in the city of Atlanta. His involvement in Civil Rights played as a major push for

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African Americans to fight for equality. He set the standard that African Americans could make
a difference and be powerful. Because of that his remembrance and involvement is highly
respected and dignified to this day.
City Life
The number of happenings in Atlanta is endless when it comes to entertainments, sports,
or even when it comes down to find something to do on a daily basis. Erin said that the majority
of Atlantas residents are accustomed to city life and look forward to have something to occupy
their time. Erin stated,
I think that the majority of the people in Atlanta are adjusted to city life and being close
to a lot of things. They like being close to big building and like having all the attractions
that are close to downtown. The aquarium is really big, then coca- cola museum.
Typically people thing of Stone Mountain, six flags. Then theres restaurants and malls.
Lennox is big and known as the upper class mall and then theres the plaza.
They also identified that making a trip to the city had to be a planned event, someone could not
just up and decide to take a trip. The traffic plays a major role in this reasoning. Atlanta is also
home to the Major League Baseball team, the Braves. The city welcomed the Braves in 1966,
after spending seventy-seven years in Boston, Massachusetts and another thirteen in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. (Fenster. 2004) and in 1997 they were welcomed to Turner Field where they still
play today. One of the worlds largest aquariums is also located in Atlanta. The Georgia
Aquarium was designed to set the standard for public aquariums and is accurately defined as one
for dramatic affect. (Harker.2006) The sheer size is depicted through Harkers factual statement,

Culture Of Atlanta

The Aquarium is 500,000 square feet, the equivalent of over 50 football fields. It holds
8,000,000 gallons of water. More than 100,000 fish and marine animals are on display.
The Aquarium's filtration systems are spread over two stories of the half million square
feet. Over two hundred pumps (and these are very large pumps) generate over 4,000
horsepower and push over 15 million gallons of water an hour through the system
Erin and Connor also stated that the malls were also a popular place for kids their age to hang
out. Malls were in walking distance to each of their neighborhoods. They also distinguished a
strong difference between the malls in their area by stating, Yeah the big malls are Lenox, the
higher one, then the mall of Georgia is in the middle then theres Discovery Mall and there you
walk in the parking lot and feel like youre going to get shot Erin admitted that not having much
in walking distance in Lexington was a difficult transition because she was accustomed to be
able to go to the store, mall, or restaurant at a walking distance. Whereas here someone would
have to drive approximately ten minutes to reach any place like that. The city life in Atlanta
varied greatly from the city life in Lexington, Kentucky.
Conclusion
Although Atlanta may seem like a typical city to those who have lived or been raised in
the city and surrounding suburbs, various qualities make the city quite different from typical
metropolitan areas. The culture of Atlanta is formed form multiple aspects in the city. The citys
main population is revealed to be business men and women who are constantly coming in and
out of the city. This plays into the reasoning why the southern accent is not prevalent in the city
of Atlanta; there is no group of true southerners to set the standard of the accent in the city when
new people are staying for just short periods with a common goal of business. Education in

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Atlanta is different from what I am accustomed to. The schools in Atlanta are known to be large
in size whether they are public or private. There is also the pressure from high school counselors
to keep students in state when it comes to choosing a college, in my interview both Erin and
Connor agreed that if they had chosen to attend a university in Georgia they would have been
attending with basically their entire high school. Atlanta is also prominently known for their
dominating African American culture and the history that goes along with it. Atlanta is home to
the famous civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. Atlanta has a strong history that adds to the
culture of the city. Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics 1996, the first time the Olympics was
hosted in the United States of America, and the city of Atlanta was burnt down during one of the
battles during the civil war. Lastly, the city life in Atlanta plays a role in the different activities
and forms of entertainment residents, as well as tourists, participate in. Atlanta is home to one of
the worlds largest aquariums, hosts many concerts, and is even popular for sporting events.
Atlanta is appropriately labeled as being one of the most diverse communities in the United
States, all these factors have a role in developing the many cultures and ideals that are portrayed
throughout Atlanta.

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This is the Georgia Aquarium. (http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/newsroom/photolibrary/bldg.aspx)

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Shermans March to Sea route (www.cwmaps.com)

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References
Brinkley, D. (2003). The majic bus: An American odyssey. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press ;.
Sack, K. (2001, March 3). In Its Heart, It's a Southern Town. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
Atlanta: Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2014.
Harker, R. (2006, February 1). Feature Article: The Georgia Aquarium: Setting a New
Benchmark for Public Aquariums. Retrieved October 30, 2014.