The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM)’s origin is rooted in the fight against racial discrimination. In 2015, an Athens bar’s drink menu made national headlines for offering a watermelon-flavored drink named “N*****ita”. The bar, aptly named General Beauregard’s, quickly closed after the circulation of photos on social media of the menu, but the public uproar also opened the door for members of the community to talk about downtown Athens bars’ culture of racial discrimination.
Mokah and Knowa Johnson, who later co-founded the AADM, heard stories from many Black and brown Athenians about being denied entry in bars due to dress codes that seemed to target minorities. They teamed up with other community organizations including Athens for Everyone to begin to organize for the creation of an anti-discrimination ordinance in Athens.
On January 5th, 2016, the long fought for anti-discrimination ordinance was passed. The ordinance amended local alcohol licensing ordinances to require local bars to post signs detailing their dress codes, provide information on private parties as well as contact information for the county attorney’s office, where complaints of alleged discriminatory practices can be filed. It also called for the creation of a committee that would ” address claims of discrimination, whether through education, through training, through referral to other local, state, and/or federal resources, and/or through some other means.”
In 2017, Mayor Denson created a Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce, which AADM co-founder and President Mokah Johnson served on. Its recommendations called for an ‘inclusion office’ which would seek “to understand, appreciate, and promote diversity in the community; begin to bridge the equity gap; and increase economic mobility”. The first Inclusion Officer for the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government was named and sworn in in 2019.
In 2021, the Athens Mayor & Commission went a step further and unanimously passed a more comprehensive Non-Discrimination Ordinance, which aimed to prevent discrimination by all businesses on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, familial status or veteran/military status. It also mandates that all Athenians have equal access to housing, employment and public accommodations. A Human Relations Committee was later established and had its first meeting in 2023. These important civil rights ordinances and committees would not have been possible without the community coming together in recognizing that the discriminatory culture of Athens’ downtown area was unacceptable and the leadership of community organizers like Mokah and Knowa Johnson.
But local policy is not enough.
The AADM continues to take in complaints from Athens community members who feel as if they have been discriminated against or their rights have been violated by businesses, organizations, the government and law enforcement. Our team works with our clients to develop plans of action to resolve their situations, which include leading mediations, providing workshops on diversity and inclusion, race, and equity in the workplace, and finding legal aid. In addition to assisting community members, the AADM developed the United Against Discrimination sticker campaign. Businesses in and around Athens can receive a sticker signifying that they will not discriminate against anyone based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or immigration status. Furthermore, our Freedom Fund team and Justice Reform committee are regularly issuing summary reports of the complaints received against law enforcement and the Clarke County Jail, monitoring local policy surrounding anti-discrimination and human/civil rights, and organizing rallies and community discussions in support of the fair treatment and dignity of all people.