Authors defend 'black mayor' memo

ATLANTA, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Two professors at Clark Atlanta University said Tuesday they are the authors of a controversial "black mayor" memo on the current mayoral race.

At a news conference at Paschal's Restaurant, Keith Jennings and William Boone, both political scientists, said the memo was simply an analysis of the race and campaign strategy. They called news coverage of the memo "incendiary and misleading."

In the memo, Jennings and Boone said City Council President Lisa Borders, who is black, is more likely to defeat the leading white candidate, Councilwoman Mary Norwood, if she can do so without being forced into a runoff. In Atlanta, one candidate must win at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff between the two top contenders.

Jennings and Boone said they were not suggesting Atlanta must have a black mayor.

The memo has been denounced by Mayor Shirley Franklin, Borders and Kasim Reed, a mayoral candidate who was holding a prayer breakfast at Paschal's while Boone and Jennings had their news conference.