Atlanta mayoral candidate claims dirty politics in ad that allegedly 'darkened' his skin

ATLANTA - There is a skin color controversy in the race to be Atlanta's next mayor. 

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That may sound illogical given that both contenders are indisputably Black candidates. 

The simmering dispute between Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore centers around Dickens' claim that a group of Moore supporters "darkened" photos of Dickens to make his skin color look darker. 

The association Dickens is concerned about is that a more ebony shade might be undesirable, or even threatening to some voters. Dickens labeled the purported altering of a campaign photo "racist"

An ad from the Andre Dickens campaign showing the alleged "darkening" of his skin tone by a Felicia Moore super PAC.

"What is disingenuous," Moore said, "is that he is fundraising off this". 

Moore said that "as a Black woman" she would never be involved in something like this. Plus, Moore contends that a Dickens flyer regarding the purported altered photograph shows two different images of the candidate. 

Michael Bond, a light-skinned political leader, said it is a "stain" on the mayor's race that skin color is being debated. But the topic has come up often. 

For more than 40 years, the Black mayors - Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Bill Campbell, and Shirley Franklin - were all light-skinned. 

Former Mayor Kasim Reed broke that pattern if you can call it such. 

Wednesday is the final day of early voting in the election.

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