This article is the first in an excellent ongoing series by al.com writer Kyle Whitmire, called State of Denial. About the series, Whitmire says, “Alabama has been poisoned by old lies. “State of Denial” is a year-long initiative looking at how Alabama’s past corrupts its present and deprives the state of a better future.”
the most on-the-nose statement of values here is this one:
Outside the governor’s office on the north side of the building stands a monument to the Confederate soldiers and sailors Davis got killed. It’s 88 feet tall.
At the southeast corner, there’s an eternal “Flame of Freedom” left by the American Legion to honor those who served and remember the lives lost in the other American wars. That monument is about six feet tall.
Also, the eternal flame has gone out. In fact, I don’t remember ever seeing it lit.
it’s not even that alabama is just white supremacist, in general–it’s that alabama is so white supremacist that white supremacy as a value takes priority pretty much everywhere in the state, however uncontroversial other values might be. i have no doubt that most white people in alabama think of themselves as patriotic american citizens who support the troops and everything they’ve done for america, but it’s obvious that those values take a backseat to their white grievances 99% of the time.
I will say that it’s not that way everywhere, or with everyone. There are younger, more progressive folks in some the cities, but conservative (white) power is entrenched in Alabama and enshrined in its institutions. The third article in this series is mostly about revisionist history in Alabama, but it also talks about how power is concentrated in the state government at the expense of the towns and cities. This, of course, has the effect of concentrating power in the hands of white conservatives and taking away the ability of cities (often majority black cities) like Birmingham and Montgomery to pass more progressive ordinances the way that cities do in many other states.
I don’t mean to “not all white people” in this comment, by the way. Alabama is absolutely a white supremacist state. White supremacy is baked into the constitution and structure of the state government. Folks are working to change it, but while old lies like the “Lost Cause” narrative hold sway and while white folks in this state continue to be ignorant of the white supremacist roots of the institutions in this state, then it will be an uphill battle.
Part two of this series: Ambushed in Eufaula: Alabama’s forgotten race massacre
Part three: How a Confederate daughter rewrote Alabama history for white supremacy