The Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. But for years before then, the city prepared for the world-renowned event at Black residents’ expense.
Between 1990 and 1996, about 30,000 people were displaced from their homes. In 1991, a host of city laws criminalized unhoused people. Because appearing “desirable” to tourists meant clearing Black unhoused people off the streets.
In 1995, the Atlanta City Detention Center opened. For those who weren’t of the 9,000 illegally arrested, a partnership with a nonprofit called Travelers Aid gave unhoused people one-way tickets out of Atlanta, making them sign pledges to never return.
Meanwhile, to build the Olympic stadium, neighborhoods and public housing for Black Atlantans were destroyed.
More gentrification, anti-unhoused legislation, and high-tech criminalization produced today’s Atlanta.
History repeats itself. The construction of Cop City nears both the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
The 1996 Olympics is a critical reminder that houselessness isn’t about morals or luck. It’s intentional. It’s strategic. It’s organized abandonment that criminalizes, brutalizes, and displaces Black people for financial gain. But this won’t be forever.
Successful resistance to Cop City shows that the same spirit that led people to protest against the Olympic project lives on today. And we can still win.