“And it connects to the larger history in the sense that, you know when Atlanta had the slogan ‘The City Too Busy to Hate’? That wasn’t exactly true.

“Even the name is about this mythical aspiration, right?” Perry said. Her essay points to the city’s name, derived from Atalanta, the fleet-footed goddess who couldn’t be captured by a man but who was ultimately seduced by golden apples. But it’s because of the power of the imagery of Atlanta as THE city that represents the South.” “I’m fascinated by how people think of Coke as a Southern drink, (when) ALL soft drinks are Southern. “It’s a city in which branding is really important,” she told me. The essay is about image, and so is Atlanta. It is not, as some are wont to say, the ‘Black New York.’ Shops close early, public transportation is minimal, there’s something quaint about its boastfulness.”Īt first glance, Perry’s essay appears to focus on low-hanging fruit, the kinds of things outsiders are quick to associate with the city: Coca-Cola, strip clubs, hip hop. “Atlanta is an in-the-flesh Disney World, a spectacle of American consumption and ambition. “Culturally speaking, Atlanta is the bright star of the South that we steadily watch, even if with disdain,” she writes. “In fact, I thought about moving there six or seven years ago.” Her essay, titled “King of the South,” may hold some clues as to why she didn’t. “I do have a lot of fondness for Atlanta,” she assured me, speaking on the phone last week from Philadelphia.

South to America by Imani Perry