The IP Has lived in Atlanta long enough to know a little about one of its recently prodigal sons, RuPaul; RuPaul remains an iconic drag queen, as well as a well-spoken former Atlantan. His recent interview in The Loaf evoked this “other” time in Atlanta history, a time when things were more “real” and less corporate/ yuppie/yankee (yes, the latter means The IP): 

How’s it feel to return to Atlanta?                                                                                                                          It’s interesting. I’m from San Diego and I moved to Atlanta when I was 15 during the beginning of the city’s boom time. But it got to a place where it stopped being fun, which is about 1987, the year I left. That’s when all the big businesses came into Midtown and bought up all the affordable housing and started tearing everything down. So Atlanta to me is like a friend I grew up with, but who’s had extensive plastic surgery. Basically, I can sense that it’s the same person there, but she’s completely unrecognizable. 

The IP always hears stories about this Atlanta “Golden Age” in the late-70s and early 80s; by most accounts it was a lot cooler (culturally) than it is today. Of course, most of the ATL people that pine for those days were teenagers and young twenty-somethings back then and, most important, they actually grew up in Atlanta. Many (certainly not all) 45-55-year-old Atlanta natives tend to judge that earlier version of the city as the best. 

That means a lot of people in Atlanta, both native and Carpetbagger (including The IP), gripe about today’s version of the city a lot. Politically, there are so many constituencies here that elections are a pander-fest to various social/racial/economic groups. You always wonder who they REALLY are gonna help (if anybody but themselves). Yes, that IS politics.

Again, RuPaul gets it right when talks about how “everything is polarized and separated and pop culture has become compartmentalized.” He continues:

I think it’s part of the surge of political correctness, where nobody wants to offend anybody and everybody’s looking to be recognized as their own little community. So, when people ask, “Are you for gay rights?” I’m like, “I’m for human rights.” The key is not to look at our differences, but to focus on the things that make us similar. And that’s all people — I’m not just talking gay people. The LGBT, the BLT, the FBI, whatever — you know, the truth is, we’re all human beings. That’s the bottom line. But will people ever understand that? Probably not.

That is why, with a 2010 Mayoral race coming up, The IP endorses RuPaul for Mayor of Atlanta:

And let The IP be the first one to tell you that he totally agrees with RuPaul, especially about supporting the BLT; The IP had one for lunch just the other day!!!