Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
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NOTE: Sen. Hank Sanders has written a weekly column for papers in his legislative district for the past twenty years. These rural, weekly papers lack a web presence, and therefore a link to the publication is not available. The column below is provided by Sen. Sanders’ office for inclusion in the Daily News Digest.

Senate Sketches # 1039

By

Senator Hank Sanders

*********************************

The power of slavery is still evident 142 years after it officially ended. It took a civil war that caused more deaths of Americans than any war before or since. This week, that power manifested itself on the Alabama Senate Floor, in the media, on phones, and on the streets. The legacy of slavery is so powerful we just cannot let it go.

Slavery is so misunderstood. I perceived that more clearly when Senator Charles Bishop stood at the podium in the Well of the Alabama Senate and said: “I knew what one form of slavery was like and that was growing up on a plantation, a cotton plantation. When I watched my momma and daddy work till late at night, trying to feed a big family and eat cornbread and beans and sometimes just cornbread.” I was appalled that Senator Bishop confuses slavery with hard work and hard times.

Time did not permit me to address Senator Bishop, but I wanted to ask him the following: Did someone take your name because they owned you? Did someone forbid you to practice your religion? Did someone prevent you by force from using your native language? Did someone prohibit you from ever mentioning your history including that of your family, community, etc.? Did someone prevent you from owning any possession, even the clothing on your back? Did someone by law prevent you from marrying? Did someone prohibit you by law from learning to read and write? Did someone rape your mother and sisters at will? Did someone own you as we own animals? Because of the constraints of time and circumstances, I did not ask Senator Bishop these questions.

Under Alabama Senate Rules, the debate on a resolution is limited to 15 minutes. This debate lasted much longer. In order to continue the debate, we senators asked for “points of personal privileges,” then went far beyond what the rule allowed. We just could not let it go.

I was trying to bring the resolution to a vote as quickly as possible. Yet, I extended the debate. In a “point of personal privilege,” Senator Bishop attacked me personally. I felt I had to respond to his charges of misleading the Senate, and “trying to take advantage of the General Fund of the State of Alabama and suck it like a leech.”

In my “point of personal privilege,” I denied the charges and explained. I further explained how the legacy of slavery still impacts our society to this day. I talked about Don Imus, a White man, calling 12 young Black women “Nappy headed hos.” These women had just demonstrated great excellence against tremendous odds by making it to the finals in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Imus did not personally know a single one of them, yet he accused them of gross sexual looseness - as whores. That is a legacy of slavery.

I went on to share how my wife, Faya Rose Toure’, resigned from a case when she discovered that the 16 year-old Black boy was actually guilty of raping a 30 some year-old White woman. In spite of his tender age, he was sentenced to 80 years in prison. Faya wished many times she had remained on the case to insure a reasonable punishment.

On the other hand, no punishment was handed out to a fully grown man who repeatedly raped a 9 year-old Black girl that lived next door to us. Black women and girls are not valued as White women. It’s one more painful legacy of slavery.

The debate on whether Alabama should apologize for its role in slavery did not stop with the Alabama Senate. It raged on the airways, in newspapers, on the streets, in homes, by U. S. mail and phone calls. We just could not let it go.

I was on three radio programs this week, and talked individually to various media reporters, citizens, leaders, etc. On a call-in show, I was not surprised that most African American callers supported the apology for slavery. Neither was I surprised that some African Americans opposed the apology. Both responses were forged by the legacy of slavery.

I was not surprised that only African Americans, with one exception, spoke in favor of the resolution on the Floor of the Alabama Senate. I was not surprised that only White senators spoke against the resolution. I was surprised when one White Democrat, Senator Parker Griffith of Huntsville, spoke eloquently in favor of the resolution, explaining how he personally observed the legacy of slavery.

Senator Griffith attended the LSU Medical School class with the school’s first African American. They were doing clinical work in a hospital with a 99 percent Black patient roster. One day he and other doctors found the African American doctor crying because Black patients could not believe he or any African American could be a doctor. That’s the legacy of slavery.

In the end, the Resolution apologizing for Alabama’s role in slavery passed the Alabama Senate. Every Democrat, White and Black, voted for the resolution. All twelve Republican either voted against the resolution or abstained. Now the House of Representatives must struggle with the issue. The legacy of slavery is so powerful we just cannot turn it loose.

Now on to the Daily Diary.

Saturday - As I drove to Atlanta with Sharon Wheeler on a mission, we kept discussing the apology for slavery. We came back in different cars, but the subject kept coming up in cell phone conversations. I also had a conference call with several Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) leaders where the apology was touched upon. When I reached Selma, I worked late into the night.

Sunday - I did radio Sunday School, Radio Education, and Sunday Review. I attended Sunday School and Church services. I discussed the Slavery apology over Sunday dinner with Fannie and Bobby McKenzie. I talked to many leaders including the following: Senate President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem; Senator Bobby Denton; Deputy Pro Tem Wendell Mitchell; Senator Roger Bedford; Senator Tom Butler; Senator Bradley Byrne; Senator Linda Coleman; Senator Larry Dixon; Senator Vivian Davis Figures; Senator Del Marsh; Senator Larry Means; Senator Rodger Smitherman; and former Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) Presidents Barbara Pitts, Dr. Roberta Watts and Dr. Carol P. Zippert. I attended a concert produced by Bobby McKenzie, Director of Music at Concordia College. I worked into the night.

Monday - I participated in another ANSC conference call and talked to the following: Angela Roberts of Monroe County; ANSC First Vice President Judy Cumbee; Toni Oliver of WVAS Radio; Joyce Bigbee of the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO); House Budget Committee Chair Representative Richard Lindsey; Senator Jabo Waggoner; Senator Quinton Ross; Black Belt Action Commission Co-Chair Margaret Bentley; Jamie Kizzare of the Montgomery Advertiser; Senator Del Marsh; Dr. Carol P. Zippert of the Greene County Democrat; Khadijah Ishaq of Selma; Harry Wormley of Alabama Power; former Senator Bill Drinkard; and Bill Jones of the University of Alabama. I called in to talk about the slavery apology on a Huntsville talk radio program. I traveled to Lowndes County where I talked with several leaders and returned to Selma to work until midnight.

Tuesday - I went to Montgomery for the following meetings: Joint House-Senate Leadership Conference; Senate Democratic Caucus; and Senate Session where I led the debate on the slavery resolution. A delegation from Selma came to support my efforts. I participated in several press conferences concerning the apology resolution. I talked to the following: Representative Richard Lindsey; Senator Larry Means; Senator Jimmy Holley; Ray Crosby of the Legislative Reference Service; lobbyist Noopie Cosby; and Dr. Paul Hubbert of the AEA and Senator Steve French. I participated in a Radio Program about the slavery resolution and briefly went by a dinner sponsored by General Fund Budget Chair Senator Roger Bedford. I returned to Selma to work.

Wednesday - I traveled to Montgomery for the following: General Fund Budget Committee meeting; Education Budget Committee meeting which I chaired; and a Senate Democratic Caucus Dinner at the home of Sonny Cauthen. I talked to the following: Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB) leader Dr. Sandra Sims deGraffenreid; Laddie Jones and Dr. Carol P. Zippert of the Greene County Democrat; Bill Drinkard; Representative Thad McClammy; Senator Lowell Barron; lobbyist Bob Geddie and others; Sophia Bracy-Harris and others; Gus Towns, Tom Conway and Linda Casey of the Alabama Forestry Commission; ANSC First Vice President Judy Cumbee; Representative John Knight; Senator Roger Bedford; Senator Bobby Denton; Norris Green of the LFO; and businessman Milton McGregor. I participated in the WVAS Talk Radio Call-in Program. I talked to several media reporters about the Slavery Resolution. I returned to Selma, participated in an ANSC conference call and worked into the night.

Thursday - I traveled to Montgomery for a photo session for an article concerning the Apology for Slavery Resolution. I participated in a Senate Session where the resolution came up again. I voted on several matters as the Senate slowdown continued. I met with the following: lobbyist Joe Fine; Bill Jones of the University of Alabama and Representative Richard Lindsey; Norris Greene of the Legislative Fiscal Office; Representative Mary Moore; Lobbyist Tom Coker; Dr. Paul Hubbert of the Alabama Education Association (AEA); Senator Lowell Barron; Senator Zeb Little; Senator Ted Little; Senator Phil Poole; Senator Tom Butter; Senator Hinton Mitchem; Representative John Knight; and Senator Roger Bedford. I also talked with a number of leaders including former Senator and now Director of the Alabama Rural Initiative Gerald Dial. I attended the Third Anniversary Celebration of my novel Death of a Fat Man, and a surprise play based on my novel.

Friday - I was at my office at 6:00 a.m. I worked on Sketches before going to Birmingham to handle several matters. The issue of the Slavery Resolution came up. I also met with several persons including consultant Rich Heartsill. In between matters, I worked on Sketches, faxing it back and forth. I returned to Selma and worked into the night.

EPILOGUE - Sometimes things happen in our childhood that affect us for the rest of our lives without our realizing it. The same is true for powerful events that happened generations ago. The Civil War is one example. Slavery is another. Both are inextricably forged together, affecting us to this day.

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