Alabama Politics in
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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 links to the columns are not typically otherwise available. The column below is provided by Sen. Sanders’ office for inclusion in the Daily News Digest.

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Senate Sketches # 1073

By

Senator Hank Sanders

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Hope and fear. Fear and hope. Bookends to life. They seem so separate but yet are so intricately tied together. Each the shadow of the other. Each the protagonist and the antagonist.

I see it in so many ways. It expresses itself in Barack Obama seeking the Presidency of these United States. This mixture of fear and hope. The many dimensions of fear and hope coming together in one moment, one person.

When I was growing up in deeply segregated and racially oppressive Alabama, my parents had the challenge of regulating these polar opposites - fear and hope. If fear was too great, we became immobilized. If hope was too great, we might fall so flat on our face that we might never get up.

One way was to convert the fear and the hope to the common denominator of challenge. I recall my mother saying many times, “Son, as a Negro, you will have to be twice as smart and work twice as hard to get half as far in life.” There was this mixture of hope and fear. Yet she connected the fear to challenge. Still, she converted the hope to challenge. Yes, I could go far but it would require twice as much to get half as far. It was a powerful mixture for me and for many others.

Now I see this mixture of hope and fear regarding Senator Barack Obama. Some African Americans are very fearful. It expresses itself in the belief that he cannot win the presidency. It’s not that we do not want him to win; it’s the fear that he might fail. Then his failure will be our failure.

“What if he wins the primary and loses the general election?” he said. “We will all be worse off for years to come. We will have tried to get the whole thing and missed so much. Is it worth the risk when we can get a lot without such risk?” Fear and hope fighting for our hearts and soul.

We take the fear further when we say, “What if he becomes President and cannot cut it? After all, he has limited experience on the national stage.” Fear, at least for the moment, is getting the best of hope.

“They will never let him be President,” she said. “If he gets close they will do something to him. Just you watch and see.” Hope and fear. Hope the best, fear the worst.

If Barack Obama succeeds in becoming President, it would give credence to the image that any child in these United States can become president. It would unleash a whirlwind of hopes that would touch the country and the world in so many ways. There is no way to know where such hopes may lead.

The reality, however, is stark. Only one person can be president at a time. So any realistic chances of becoming president start at 300 million to one, the base population of this country. For the poor and the Black and the Brown and the left out, the odds go to at least a billion to one. The reality is one thing; the hope is another.

But hope is not limited by odds; it exists in spite of odds. It expands to fill all the space between and beyond the odds. It is as limitless as our imagination and as powerful as any force.

The impact of hope is so great. “Shoot for the stars,” my mother would say. “If you don’t reach the stars, the moon ain’t so bad.” In short, it’s alright to have our youth believe they can be president. Even though the chances of achieving it are astronomical, it unleashes hope. And hope pushes forward, always countering fear.

As African Americans, we suffer from a special catch 22. If we do something good, we are the exception and our race gets little credit. If we do something bad, we are the representative of our race and our race gets too much blame. It’s hard to win.

Can Barack win or lose as a leader who happens to be Black? Or will he be the representative of the race? Our very hopes and fears are all tied up in this simple equation.

Fear and hope. Hope and fear. Bookends to our fate. Fighting against each other. Battling to move each other to fill the same space and time. Nowhere is the battle more intense than in the war of hopes and fears in those burdened by both poverty and race - those at the very bottom.

Hope and fear are opposites. One pushes forward. The other holds back. They are forever entangled, but neither can occupy the same space and time. So they fight each other. Neither willing to yield. Both determined to control our fate.

If Barack Obama masters the long odds to become President of these United States, he will be a worldwide example of overcoming. He will have overcome so much: the challenge of being born in a so-called mixed marriage; the challenge of a father deserting him at a young age; the challenge of experimenting with drugs as a youth; the challenge of searching for and finding a lost identity; the challenge of color; the challenge of religion; and the challenge of history. Most of all, he will have overcome the challenge of fear, unleashing hope in abundance. But until something happens, hope and fear will continue to struggle, each bent on determining our fate. We cannot leave the stage to these battles, hope and fear. We must join the battle so hope has more of a chance.

Now on to the Daily Diary.

Saturday - I spoke at Ellwood Community Church for a new credit union, attended a 21^st Century Youth Leadership (21C) meeting and visited the National Voting Rights Museum (NVRM). I talked with the following: Dr. Carol P. Zippert and Danielle Harper of 21C; and Franklin Fortier of Selma. I also worked on Sketches and many other matters.

Sunday - I did Radio Sunday School with Dr. Margaret Hardy, Radio Education with Perry County School Superintendent John Heard, and Sunday Review. I shared Sunday Dinner with Bobby and Fannie McKenzie where we talked about education and other community issues. I talked with the following: Senator Zeb Little; Senator Bobby Singleton; Senator Wendell Mitchell; Barbara Brown of Selma; Senator Parker Griffith; Judge Marvin Wiggins; Senator Ted Little; Henry Pitts of Selma; Dr. Leroy Maxwell of Selma; Senator Roger Bedford; Senator Linda Coleman; Senator Bobby Denton; and Senator Vivian Davis Figures. I also attended the Selma Renaissance Community Choir program at Wallace Community College where I talked with several community leaders.

Monday - I talked with the following: Billy Faile of Selma; Bill Gamble of Selma; Representative Yusuf Salaam; Roosevelt McElroy of Dallas County; Senator Larry Means; Senator Quinton Ross; Philip Brookins of Mississippi; Senator Harri Anne Smith; Senator Myron Penn; Walter Holland of the Lawley Volunteer Fire Department; Lieutenant Governor Jim Folsom, Jr.; Colonel Tubbs of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation; Stuart Burkhalter of AFL-CIO; Barnette Hayes of Selma; Robert Avery, President of Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC); and Scott Latham of the Community Bankers Association. I traveled to Greene County where I talked to County Commissioner Marvin Childs, School Board member Lester Brown, and Sheriff Isom Thomas and returned to Selma. I also shared lunch with Alabama Supreme Court Justice Sue Bell Cobb.

Tuesday - I talked with the following: Sharon Wheeler of the Senate President Pro Tem’s Office; James Terry, Jr. of Selma; Senator Roger Bedford; Karen Smith of the Legislative Reference Service (LRS); Lobbyist Tom Coker; Lobbyist Joe Fine; Laureshia Bennett of ANSC; Khadijah Ishaq of Selma; Greene County School Superintendent Isaac Atkins; Sumter County School Superintendent Dr. Fred Primm; Norris Green of the Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO); Senator Kim Benefield; House Education Budget Chair Representative Richard Lindsey; Senator Rodger Smitherman; Randy Thorn of Conecuh County; Petra Haffter of Germany; Rick Heartsill of Birmingham; Terry White of Marengo County; Senator Arthur Orr; Senator Del Marsh; Senator Steve French; Greg Griffin of the Board of Pardons and Parole; and Senator Hank Ervin.

Wednesday - I was in Montgomery by 8:00 a.m. and back in Selma by 10:30 a.m. I was in Birmingham by 2:00 p.m. and back in Selma by 7:30 p.m. Among other things, I visited my law partner J. L. Chestnut, Jr. in the St. Vincent Hospital in Birmingham. I talked with the following: Bob Palmer of Birmingham; Senator Zeb Little; Lowndes County Administrator Jackie Thomas; and Matilda Jackson of Hale County.

Thursday - I met with the following: Dr. Will Baker and Rita Lett on the medical school without walls; Superintendent Dr. Vick Adkison of Thomasville; Superintendent Ronnie Brogden of Conecuh County; and Superintendent Dr. Rosie Shamburger of Wilcox County. I also met with firefighters from Volunteer Fire Departments of River Oaks, Packers Bend, Monroe County Association of Volunteer Firefighter, and Clarke County Association of Volunteer Firefighters. I also talked with Senator Ben Brooks, Senator Rusty Glover, and Senator Jabo Waggoner. I traveled to Lowndes County and returned to Selma. I worked on Sketches and many other matters during the day.

Friday - I participated in the Radio Program Faya’s Fire at 8:00 a.m. I talked with Petra Haffter of Germany and her recording crew at Z105.3. I met them at the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a further interview. I also talked with Assistant State School Superintendent Craig Pouncey and Senator E. B. McClain. I worked on Sketches and facilitated the Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders and Pettaway Christmas Party. I worked into the night

EPILOGUE - We always have a choice. We can run to our hopes, or we can run from our fears. I choose to run to my hopes because it’s the hope for our children.

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