By Tijuanna Adetunji
As Alabamians we have come too far to turn back now to the years of racial divisiveness. Coretta Scott King said, “Segregation was wrong when it was forced by white people,” and that it is “still wrong when it is requested by black people.” I am not surprised that such request are still being made from the Alabama House floor like the one recently by Representative Alvin Holmes (D-78), that the U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas is an “Uncle Tom.”
I believe the true Uncle Toms of our day are those that work hard to silence the voices of blacks that refuse to deny their values in the voting booth. These Uncle Toms go to great lengths to make government more appealing than God. They call evil good and good evil. They have cheapened the struggle of “Civil Rights” to include a person’s sexual preference. They have built strong alliances and strongholds as Democrats and any black person who wakes up from the nightmare of their tactics are attacked for doing so. When did being black mean subscribing to their views only?
Since announcing my candidacy there have been many blacks that whole-heartedly agree with me and say with exasperation, “It is time for a change.” But there are others that also agree but are afraid of the “establishment.” As a Republican for the Alabama House of Representatives District 78, I ask Alabama to wake up, stand up and take courage for the values that once made this country great. These values can be found in the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…” It is my duty to make sure that those rights are not forgotten or marred by fear tactics, name-calling and sabotage.
Let us remember the quote from Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” However, in this election cycle and beyond we must do something in Alabama. We too must build a strong alliance with those persons that are willing to move Alabama forward away from the division of yesterday’s past.
