Racial Billboards On Abortion Spark Controversy in GA

By Steve Kuzj, CBS Atlanta Reporter

POSTED: 8:00 pm EST February 8, 2010

UPDATED: 6:51 am EST February 9, 2010 

News Ad Campaign Says Black Children Are 'An Endangered Species'

Note from Susie:  At our Rally for Life in January, the speaker was Rev Walter Hoye from CA who gained notoriety in the pro life world when he was arrested for peaceful sidewalk counseling in front of an abortion mill.  As an African American pastor, he said one sentence that I cannot forget.....he talked about the African American community being so hard hit by abortion that they are not replacing themselves. "For every 100 births to African Americans, there are 77 abortions."  This is what PP founder Margaret Sanger had in mind.

 

ATLANTA -- Controversial billboards are showing up in neighborhoods across Atlanta that claim black children are “an endangered species.” The group behind the billboards is the anti-abortion organization, The Radiance Foundation. They call the abortion rate among African-Americans “a silent genocide.” The foundation’s Too Many Aborted campaign is paid for by Georgia’s Right to Life. They’re placing 80 of their massive signs in the Atlanta area to make the public more aware of the million of abortions by black women they said have happened since the 1970s. “That’s the endangered part of the whole campaign,” explained Ryan Bomberger, the campaign’s creator. “You’ve got millions and millions who are not here because of abortion.” Some people in the black neighborhoods where the billboards are posted told CBS Atlanta News the message is too harsh. “It’s not the right message. It’s basically picking us out and saying that we’re having too many abortions and not using protection,” said Tyisha Martin, a black woman who lives near one billboard. Bomberger admits the billboards are edgy and controversial; they said they’re supposed to be to get people to think seriously about abortion. “Sometimes people see something that is shocking because it shakes them to their core of beliefs. We believe we have to jolt, not just the African American Community, but the entire public,” said Bomberger. Bomberger said they’re focusing their efforts mostly on DeKalb and Fulton Counties because that’s where he sees the most need for his message.