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Kelly Smith Beaty, a metro Atlanta native and former contestant on NBC’s The Apprentice, has written an essay that’s gone viral blasting how reality shows portray African-Americans in Atlanta.

The essay, Will the Real Black People of Atlanta Please Stand Up?,” is on the Huffington Post and has been “liked” more than 4,000 times on Facebook.

Here’s an excerpt:

“How is it that a city which was once the crowning jewel in the story of black America has allowed itself to be positioned as the melting pot of black affliction? The Atlanta that I knew and grew up in was one of great pride and self-respect. Our achievements were known across the globe, as people from far and wide would often respond, ‘Wow, I hear that black people are really doing their thing down there,’ when I would tell them I’m from Atlanta. Today that assertion is often met with, ‘Yoooo….I hear Atlanta’s got them bangin’ strip clubs.’…Really?!?”

Although Beaty didn’t mention any reality shows by name, her essay is clearly targeting The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta.

Beaty was on The Apprentice in 2010 but didn’t win.  She attended Spelman College and grew up in Fayetteville. Beaty reportedly wrote the essay after being fed up with how reality television portrays her hometown.

Read Beaty’s full essay here.

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