Alabama takes on a familiar role in civil rights

Image Credit: Colorlines

It has been nearly 50 years since George Wallace's stand in the schoolhouse door, where the Alabama governor stood at the doorstep of the state's flagship university, "seeking to preserve and maintain the peace and dignity of this State, and the individual freedoms of the citizens thereof," and denied entry to African American students admitted to the school.  Alabama, at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement, often found itself standing on the wrong side of history, not to mention morality, in the name of protecting state's rights, amid a plethora of other excuses.  As we know, the students were ultimately permitted to attend classes, and the segregationist governor ultimately lost his battle to prevent desegregation in Alabama.


The state government, now controlled by the party of Lincoln for the first time since Reconstruction, has again reasserted it's position as the nation's leading opponent to civil rights.  This morning, Robert Bentley signed into law House Bill 56, described as the harshest and most comprehensive state legislation against illegal immigration in the nation.  As reported by Julianne Hing of Colorlines, the law will attack immigrants at almost every level of their existence.  Following Arizona's lead, law enforcement will be required to screen all who are under "reasonable suspicion" of being undocumented.  Hispanic children will require documentation to attend schools, those requiring medical care will be required to present papers and those entering into contracts will not be able to enforce them if they cannot confirm their immigration status.


Alabama lawmakers have chosen to ignore both common sense and real reform in order to send a message to Latinos: don't come to our door.  The draconian provisions will almost certainly never go into effect, as civil rights activists have successfully relied on the federal courts to prevent such measures in other states.  Lawmakers will almost certainly echo Wallace's appeal to state's rights (though none decried the federal government's interventions during tornado recoveries in the state) as we re-live the battles of the 1960s.


And while the vote will certainly appeal to the lawmakers' bases, it will ultimately prove a long-term setback for the state in the face of the changing population.  Republicans across the US are choosing to maximize on the current climate of recession-induced populism at the expense of building relations with the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation.  Instead of choosing to take Utah's lead of a balanced, reasonable law, Alabama has elected to chase out a critical component of the current workforce in the name of promoting jobs for Alabamians.  The promise is false, as the immigrants that will leave are not vacating spots for which other Alabamians are applying.  In the words of Bart Wallace, "(I) hope the state of Alabama lawyers up because they (are) fixing to have a multitude of lawsuits on their hand over this immigration bill."  I wonder where the legal fees will come from in Bentley's spendthrift budget.  Something tells me that even in the face of financial woes, funding will be found.   In the end, Alabama takes another step back, again to the place of leader against civil rights.