Coal Ash, Alabama's Constitution, and the Lingering Legacy of Jim Crow

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As America reads this front page New York Times story, they will be baffled by the seeming contradictions in the piece. A black commissioner singing the praises of a destructive development, a white southerner playing the role of environmentalist, and a poor Alabama county that seemingly betrays our most deeply held stereotypes. As one of my friends put it, "I don't know what to think." The story needs a bigger window.

In 1901, some disenchanted and angry Alabama fat cats got together to draft a constitution that would underpin Jim Crow segregation and voter disenfranchisement. They accomplished this by ensuring the centralization of power at the state capital and in incorporated cities. Rural areas, but mainly the Black Belt Region where many freedmen lived, would be controlled by the state legislation. They did this by denying any significant power to county commissions, precluding them from levying any taxes aside from sales tax. As history progressed, the other apartheid policies were defeated and removed from the books, but the Constitution remains to this day.

Fast forward to coal ash in 2009, county commissioners are faced with the choice, coal ash in landfills or nothing. Lacking the power to levy taxes on the highly profitable timber industry in Perry County, commissioners have little option but to take "development" in whatever form it comes. So, in the face of this context, the identities and strategies of the individuals and groups in this NY Times piece emerge; the seemingly distorted views of the actors in this political play are shaped by a powerful racism set in motion over a century ago, but still wielding its ugly power today. And make no mistake, this racism is not directed at one individual but at the entirety of the black population in Alabama, its power is evil and subversive, and it gives us a living glimpse into the violence of the Jim Crow South.