Summary: More than any time while I have been alive – it is important to defend the good morals of this world against the bad. The U.S. is in an exceptional existential crisis. Nihilism is back in fashion and the weak are at risk of exploitation. This is my defense of the state of Alabama, but also a honest criticism of it, all wrapped together into one writing. | Word Count: 2,114
Alabama is my home.
It is the place where I was born and a place where I would be honored to even die. I grew up here and I now flourish here.
Alabama is a weird place to most who do not live here. That can be said about any seemingly unimportant place in the world. At least by stereotypes, we aren’t known for many good things. National news and international news alike write headlines that are usually sparked by a negative incident and our only defense is “at least we are better than Mississippi”. The U.S. does not hold Alabama in high regard and the internet holds it in even less esteem – just look in any online comment section.
Let me tell you about this state. My state. My home.
It is a place where new ideas are hard to understand, especially for the older generation and wherever there are small towns that lie in secluded areas – they are separated from the whole perspective. A stat from Alabama Department of Public health shows that 42% of the population live in rural areas. Like much of the US, this place is easy to siloed themselves into a small town mentality, even more so with unregulated social media companies that become echo chambers without very good moderation.
The lives of others who differ greatly from a majority of Alabamians and who think differently from them, and see different perspectives from them are still hard for many to understand – they speak only of how it used to be. There are those in this state who resent change no matter how beneficial it is to the next generation. They believe a certain way because that is how they grew up.
It would come as no surprise that there happens to be congregations of hate here too, but the loudest and angriest of the religious sermons, whether from the poorest or richest pulpits, are the ones who have disregarded their own values of love and acceptance. Despite the ones who use fear instead of love, there are people of all religions and belief systems who live here and who get along with each other. There are good people in Alabama who do support all types of people even if their voice is drowned out by the hate mongers. The hateful and judgmental are hypocrites and they are emblematic of a holy irony – I hope one day maybe they can find redemption for their misplaced hate by figuring out their own problems of bubbling anger and swelling fear.
People who value human nature and science live here too. Alabama has many scholars and academics from social sciences to business and technology. We have science and art museums. Medicine and medical education is big in Birmingham. Huntsville is all about the air and space industry, and while not my cup of tea – sports – is a big thing in Tuscaloosa – a little too big, but whatever. Mobile is also a really cool port city. Nothing much going on in Montgomery besides an air force field, civil rights museums, and two zoos. One zoo is a lot better than the other since they have chimps, lions, and flamingos, while the other only has politicians.
Speaking of which, there is a particular problem of politicians seeking power by using fear of other groups. They court the unaware population of Alabama with their promises to stop fake threats from various groups of people. They use ignorance to gain their support and abridge the values of decency to use for bigotry and division.
I love Alabama despite all the political nonsense and many religious biases that exist here.
My father made a life here after giving his whole life up in Mexico. My mother was born here. Half of my family lives here as well as my oldest and dearest friends. Not to mention a variety of wonderful personalities from mall rats to college life. There are many nature parks here that attract lovers of the outdoors and different running, biking, and skating communities that gather all across the state. We have no shortage of local breweries and the food scene is kicking the pallet hard here.
I am proud Mexican-American and I am a proud Alabamian. I am both, not one or the other.
I am privileged to say that I love this place despite all the dirty faults and hurtful flaws here. Many good friends I care about can not say the same thing and for undeniable good reasons.
Alabama rejected them.
Alabama disdains them.
Alabama has threatened them.
Alabama has hurt them.
Alabama wants them to disappear without even knowing of them. That much is true. There is a large amount of ignorance here that the world sees easily. It is hard for many to move past that – but I believe we can. Things can change.
Critical reasoning is a bedrock for democracy, which Alabama absolutely lacks. That’s one of Alabama’s biggest problems. It lacks the perspective to see beyond each other’s biases. Not one person lacks a blind spot in life and Alabama has plenty of them. To question everything is good as it leads to more answers and even more questions. Just because someone questions, it doesn’t mean we have to disregard it in the public debate. There are times where we can not tolerate the intolerable, like groups who wish to eliminate others, but we can stand united in a place to find a meaningful discussion.
However, it’s not the discourse which is the problem – that’s a nationwide problem. In my opinion the biggest problem Alabama faces is that it is stuck in the past. The victims of racism are stuck in poverty and are segregated from the resources they need to move up in life, while the privileged are held up in their own kingdoms, forgetting everyone else around them; they live in a disconnected world where only their problems matter. The secret that goes unnoticed is that most problems in life are interconnected. There is more correlation for cause and effect concerning income level than many other aspects of life.
It’s true. Alabama can be a red-neck, trashy, middle of the woods, ignorant place that has close minded opinions at every gas stop. It’s evident in education scores, the health outcome, poverty rates, and infant & mother mortality rates. Find any ranking statistic and Alabama is not doing very well. All except for biodiversity of many rivers and ecosystems, although who can say for how much longer.
Society’s problems contribute to the cycle of inequality, especially in Alabama. If you are very poor you stay very poor while the very wealthy can thrive without understanding (and some willfully ignoring) the actual problems of society. Living in a bad neighbor with no car or an unreliable car will make getting another job impossible. A bad job will never amount to a better job and with no good options for public transportation, forget about getting to that doctor’s appointment on time that you need to keep healthy and retain a job to pay for. An underfunded education system creates places where the poor can never move out and violence forms as a result. The cycle of death in some communities creates a series of bad outcomes from situations they could never control over or at least control very little. Society should demand that people be accountable for their own actions, but first take responsibility for the environment that keeps them poor.
Alabama needs help to change. It needs fair and equal investment in all communities and from those who don’t exploit the common worker, rather supports the idea that the rewards of a just society are enjoyed by everyone in different ways. Everyone needs something different in life to function. Alabama needs innovation and diversity to truly flourish into what it could be – a place of nature, a place of business, a place of education, a place of art, a place of health for the mind, body, soul or what have you.
To entirely disparage Alabama is to deny the history of the Selma marches of Martin Luther King Jr., the Bloody Sunday incident with Hosea Williams and John Lewis, or when Rosa Parks stood against segregation on a bus in Montgomery, and the numerous other courageous stories that showed people could prevail against idea that people deserve to be treated differently based on the color of their skin. To deny the importance that Alabama played in the era of steel and coal is to ignore the impacts it had on the U.S. and the world. Alabama is a place of pain, but also a place of hope. It is entrenched in small steps of a larger pivotal history.
Racism happens everywhere in the world, so to say it is exclusive in the South and to disregard the big hearted people in this state is a mistake. Politics is different here and criticism should not of course be held back from where and when it is due and there is plenty of it overdue. Alabama has been and still is a place where you find problems – particularly entrenched in the local laws and through state politics. Once acknowledged there is a problem, only then can we move on from it. Alabama has to stop denying the ill deeds of history and focus on the future.
One thing that stops Alabama from moving to a better future is that they are afraid of change. Living with privilege means living with something one has never been without, which is deceptively more difficult to understand than those who never had that privilege in the first place. Being black in Alabama is very different from being white in Alabama. Being Latino, Indian, middle eastern, Asian, or African is also different. Being in Alabama is about being in the group, not out of it.
To no surprise Alabama fears people being gay. They fear the existence of transgender people who they have never had a decent conversation with. They hear terms they never heard before, like nonbinary, asexual, and spectrum descriptions of sex and gender. They are confused when someone uses Queer in a positive context instead of a slur. They lack the means to talk about ideas they do not understand in a respectful arena of discussion.
That is where a lot of hate is born. To them, people different from them have come into existence from some political boogeyman – an issue used to distract people from other issues. LGBTQ+ people have always been here in the world, throughout time and across all cultures. It is only now in the age of social media that they hear so much more about it. Politicians can use these issues to score political points by using this community to scare people. When the issues lack a face, the image of them can be distorted into something that sounds evil. True evil is the greed that politicians use to play their dirty game.
We do have hearts in Alabama and for every bad thing there is, there is also good not seen or heard as much. One day this place will change. Not in the context of blue versus red, but it will change in terms of honesty, truth, love, and respect. Alabama can be a friendly place where history is learned, nature is protected, and the future is planned for everyone.
Why?
Because I live here. I will be damned to let the unscrupulous succeed in the place that I live.
And because I know there are plenty of good people who also live here. They make history a little bit at a time and they develop communities of all kinds for entertaining and socializing – at every bar and event. There are amazing artists here. Cooks and chefs of every type of food. Conventions, nerds, and geeks of every variety.
These good people of Alabama deserve recognition as they help others less fortunate here. Alabama should be a great place for all people. Through turbulent times – times where we will backtrack in freedom and democracy – we may succumb to the will of wanna be dictators, but we will continue to live. We will continue to grow and we continue to learn and love. We will change our future so long as we do not forget what it means to be free to seek the truth, our humanity, and the understanding of one another.
Alabama is my home – forevermore. No one will take that away from me. It will not be gone even through my death. I will have made my mark here one small moment after the next in the state I hold very dear.
Link: Alabama Department of Public Health | https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/ruralhealth/at-a-glance.html
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