Alabama stands at a precipice. They will either be the first state in recent times to openly embrace a pedophile as a Senator or reject him.
The problem is, that, that is what the southern state, and America faces—a moral meltdown centering the accepted endangerment of children.
This is democracy in America.
On Tuesday, December 12, the superficial white-guy-next-door who is really a predator in the body of Roy Moore, finalizes his controversial campaign trail. His opponent is Doug Jones.
While people guffaw at recent videos surfacing where Moore supporters justify his sexual misconduct towards underage, teenage girls as a 30-something attorney, there is a sleeping giant grossly overlooked.
Invisible Voters
The silent game changer, once again, are African American voters who make up 27 percent of the population.
Black Alabamans have a history of protest and resistance in the face of obstacle.
The germinal Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 stimulated the Civil Rights Movement. The two-year economic embargo led by black women was one of the most effective Civil Rights’ campaigns.
Then the Birmingham Movement in 1963, an influential crusade followed by the Selma to Montgomery march are integral parts of the black liberation.
Eyes Woke Shut
Jones, the opponent of Roy Moore, is a Democrat who has done a poor job in mobilizing blacks.
In the Republican-dominant state, blacks overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama in both elections and still vote in local elections; however, their turnout in statewide campaigns wanes.
Indeed, there are organizations engaging African American voters, but the largely Democratic group in Alabama simply ignores them.
Blacks in the state have high unemployment and low graduation rates; however, they rank ninth in the nation in the number of black-owned businesses. Outside of a concentrated section around Montgomery and Birmingham, they are virtually invisible in political discourse.
Political strategists believe that Jones hurt his campaign in this clear oversight. Nonetheless, cities like Birmingham, fresh from electing a young, black Morehouse graduate, Randall Woodfin, provides political shelter for African Americans.
