Today it is hard to find a politician in Alabama who does not claim to be a conservative. Claiming conservative values, many former members of the Democratic Party have switched to the Republican Party. The issue that concerns me is one that should concern all of us. That is: Why is conservatism attracting so many life-long Democrats? . . . → Read More: Misguided Party-Switchers Choosing Backward Response
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In 1967, the United States Supreme Court declared state laws banning interracial marriage unconstitutional [Loving vs. Commonwealth of Virginia]. This decision opened the courthouse door for men and women of different races to marry, procreate and bring up their legitimate children anywhere in the United States. According to the 1992 U.S. Census, there are . . . → Read More: What’s Wrong With Biracial Label? Thursday, at 10:00 p.m., the Reverend Elijah Goodman, returning home from church services, observed a pickup truck with a horse trailer parked in front of the Pope Plantation front gate. The Rev. Goodman assumed that the Popes were preparing to take their horses trail riding the following morning. What he didn’t know, was at that moment a horse thief was taking Heidi, Harriet Pope’s 20 year old bay Quarter Horse mare. . . . → Read More: Anatomy of a Horse Thief This column attempts to remove the smoke and take a clear-eyed look at the facts surrounding the rash of suspicious fires in Alabama at churches with nonwhite parishioners. Since December 1995, four such fires occurred in neighboring Hale and Green Counties. In Green, County the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Boligee burned on December 22, 1995. Less than a month later, the Little Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and the Mt. Zoar Baptist Church burned on the same night, January 11, 1996. In neighboring Hale County, the Rising Star Baptist Church in Greensboro burned on June 3, 1996. . . . → Read More: Facts Justify Concern for Burnings The current affirmative action debate exposes a resentful class of white male critics. They use tortured truth and convoluted facts to spew anecdotal misinformation regarding federal programs and policies designed to correct past racial and sexual discrimination. A recent column in the Montgomery Advertiser, “Nation Now Has Legal Caste System” by Paul Craig Roberts . . . → Read More: Affirmative Action Distorted Again The affirmative action debate has grown very serious. The president has announced that he will cause a full review to be made of the programs. Presidential candidates have taken strong stands against affirmative action. There are congressional oversight hearings. A few angry white men have cried “reverse discrimination.” The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided in a 5-4 decision that the “government may treat people differently because of their race only for the most compelling reasons.” . . . → Read More: Affirmative Action Debate: Nation Must Not Set Aside Gains Made By Minorities Just as the affirmative action debate soared in the turbulence of partisan politics, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively struck down the mother of all affirmative action…race-based congressional districts. It is ironic that Justice Clarence Thomas voted with the majority in the five to four decision. Ironic because many of Justice Thomas’ detractors during his confirmation process to the court went to great length explaining how he benefited from affirmative action. Branding the future United States Supreme Court Justice as a recipient of affirmative action was intended to stigmatize him, imply that he was unworthy to be a supreme court justice. . . . → Read More: Affirmative Action Debate: Discrimination Would Remain Illegal in Nation Today, Alabama confines 19,838 prisoners. We house these inmates in 18 major inmate facilities, 2 work camps, and 11 work release centers. According to Department of Corrections Researcher, Thomas Gilkerson, the racial makeup of Alabama’s inmate population is 60/40 black to white for the male population and about the same ratio for the 1,100 female inmates. When asked if the Department of Corrections had an explanation for a 60 percent non-white incarceration rate given that population of the state is only 25 percent non-white, Mr. Gilkerson said that the department didn’t have any specific information based on research by their department. He felt that the disproportionally high rate of non-whites in Alabama prisons reflects the high rate of black on black crime in the state. . . . → Read More: Chain Gangs Newest Wedge Issue Since the November 1994 elections, we have heard a lot of talk about the ‘angry-white-male’ but no one ever dreamed that one would become so angry as to car-bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, indiscriminately killing or wounding several hundred people. Why did young Timothy McVeigh become so angry? Is . . . → Read More: Dose of Truth Nation’s Best Antidote This year marks forty years since Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery City bus to a white man. Then, Alabama law required African American passengers to stand-up so that white riders could sit down when all seats were filled. Today, it is hard to imagine the Montgomery of 1955. Those . . . → Read More: The Lawyer Most Responsible for Dismantling Segregation |
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