Thank you Alabama for restoring my faith in decency!
By Dorothy Iman- Johnson
Special to the Outlook
I make no bones about it. I was praying that the day after the Alabama Senate election I would wake up proud instead of embarrassed by the state where I was born. I know former President Obama and former Vice President Biden did get-out-the-vote robo calls for Doug Jones to counter those made by Trump for Roy Moore; but I, also, called family members and friends back home in Alabama and asked them to make me and America proud by encouraging everyone they knew to vote for Doug Jones. I know the turn out, Black and White, was due to Jones being a good man and candidate, and the hard fought campaign he ran all over Alabama, no matter how red the county was. Expressing the joy of most Doug Jones supporters, my niece, who lives in Madison/ Huntsville, Alabama, texted me when the race was called for Jones, “Aunt Dot, Alabama just made you proud!!!! I’m so happy!” It was a miracle and I thanked God.
Roy Moore was a horrible candidate, and would not have even been competitive anywhere except Alabama. It lets us know that a large portion of the White population in that state still is holding on to the pre-1970s racist Jim Crow South for which Roy Moore was the poster boy. Moore stated on a radio talk show that all constitutional amendments after the 10th should be abolished. He went on to state, “That would eliminate many problems. You know, people don’t understand how some of these amendments have completely tried to wreck the form of government that our forefathers intended.” Does he think our forefathers intended an autocratic form of government instead of a democracy? He is obviously not very familiar with grade school history.
Put bluntly, Moore was advocating the elimination of the 13th amendment that ended slavery, the 14th amendment that granted citizenship rights to former slaves, and the 15th amendment that protects voting rights for Black Americans. This helps to place Moore’s next statement in context. When asked by a radio show host, when was the last time he thought America was great, he replied “I think it (America) was great at the time when families were united, even though we had slavery, they cared for one another…Our families were strong, our country had direction.” He obviously was only referring to the White families who considered their slaves property, not human beings. Black parents were separated from their children and sold off to the highest bidder, with little care about the unity of their slaves’ families.
Further, Moore thought eliminating the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote would make America great, again. He probably wishes more than ever that women and Black Americans were never given voting rights. According to exit polls on Election Day, December 12, Moore won the male vote by 56 percent while Jones won the female vote by 57 percent. Of the 57 percent female vote, 98 percent of Black women voted for Jones and drove up his winning margin. Black Alabama residents make up about 27 percent of the state’s population; but 40 percent of those who voted in the election were Black voters. Black Alabama voters understood how dangerous Moore was; but also knew what a good man Doug Jones is. It was not simply a vote against Roy Moore. It was a vote for a truly decent and just man who would not rest until the last two Klansmen were convicted and sentenced for murdering the four little Black girls in the 16th Street Church bombing, though it took over 3 decades after the 1963 bombing. Jones demonstrated the same determination in seeing justice done in the bombing of the abortion clinic in Birmingham and presented a sharp contrast between his good character and that of Roy Moore. It was hard for me to believe that evangelicals who readily declare their Christian values would choose a child molester and racist like Moore over Jones who lives his Christian values in the respect and love he shows to all people. I could not contain my joy when CNN and MSNBC finally announced that Jones had been declared the winner of the election. Thank you, Doug Jones, for restoring decency and respect to the election process in Alabama; and a sense of pride in many Americans who were hoping for the best outcome, but fearing the worst.
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