This year and throughout the early 1970s, more African Americans are elected to public office in the city. Atlanta is becoming predominantly African American in large measure as a result of the movement of whites in large numbers out of communities when African Americans began to move in. Now more than ever Atlanta is considered a “Mecca” for African Americans.

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, former President of Morehouse College, is elected to the Atlanta Board of Education and becomes its president.

The influence of Auburn Avenue is in decline in part because integration has pulled African American patronage to formerly whites only stores and because of the building the 75/85 Interstate connector divides the street. African American civil rights leadership across the city still exists, but is dispersed in various communities. The Atlanta University Center remains an important force in the black community, although students in this decade are not as politically active as in the 1960s.