Wondering about Immigration--Sunset in Alabama?

"When I get to be a composer

I'm gonna write me some music about

Daybreak in Alabama

And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it

Raising out of the ground like a swamp mist

And falling out of heaven like soft dew.

I'm gonna put some tall trees in it

And the scent of pine needles
And the smell of red clay after rain
And long red necks
And poppy colored faces
And big brown arms
And the field daisy eyes
Of black and white black white black people
And I'm gonna put white hands
And black hands and brown and yellow hands...
in it..."
   --Langston Hughes, 'Daybreak in Alabama"

Not far down the street from where I live is a Hispanic family that moved in several years ago. If you were to drive by their house you would see one of the most attractive houses and lawns in the neighborhood. There is a Japanese maple in the front yard. There are daisies and other flowers blooming. The father and mother both work hard. Both have their own businesses. They are a close-knit family. Celebrating a birthday of one of their children weeks ago they had constructed this huge blow-up party vehicle in the front yard. Children laughing and playing filled the yard. This family goes to Church every weekend and is a credit to the community. They are full citizens of our state...yet they are afraid. Not because they are illegal—which they are not. But because of the recent Alabama Immigration law which the Governor signed recently. The ugly bill is called H.B. 56.

If I were a betting man I would say that if this bill goes into law the father or mother will be stopped by the police and asked for their papers some time in the following months. Their children’s teachers will wonder next year about the status of Hispanic children. Someone in a grocery store line will give them a hard stare. Their family members visiting Alabama will be frightened of this state and its policies. No one will stop me and ask for my papers unless I run some stop sign or have an accident. I am white. A policeman will not even think of stopping me unless I break the law. I am the right color.

The Southern Poverty Law Center along with the ACLU has already filed a lawsuit stating this new bill is cruel and discriminatory. The citizens of this state would be appalled by this legislation. It would turn Alabama school officials into immigration agents. Teachers will have to verify the immigration status of students and report them to the state. This bill allows police to arrest and detain a person when there is “reasonable suspicion” the person is in the country illegally. Landlords will be forced to verify the immigration status of their tenants. All citizens will be prohibited from transporting any undocumented immigrant. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that this piece of legislation is of special concern to mixed status families. Children could be arrested for simply transporting their undocumented parents.

I waded through all 40 pages of this bill yesterday. Chills went up my spine as I read, over and over, the word alien and illegal. It reminded me of those early days in Germany when the Jews were beginning to be discriminated against. We know the rest of that painful story.

The civil rights of Hispanics will be shattered if this law goes into effect. Cecilia Wang of the American Civil Liberties Union says: “It blocks the schoolhouse doors to children. It will result in people being turned away when they try to rent a home. It will place burdens on people of color at the voting booth.” She states that by signing this law Governor Bentley has codified official discrimination in the state of Alabama. Our state follows Arizona, Georgia and Utah which all have discriminatory bills directed toward Hispanics. Surely these bills will be struck down by the courts.

America is to be a land of the free and the brave. The great dream of our forefathers went further than they ever envisioned. American was to be a place where all could feel safe. This bill attacks these dreams and basic human rights of a whole segment of our population.

Langston Hughes once wrote a poem called, “Daybreak in Alabama.” Were he writing today perhaps he would entitle the poem: “Sunset in Alabama.” We cannot allow my Hispanic neghbors down the street or any other persons in this state to be discriminated against by official sanction.

(You might want to read the Birmingham News' story of Methodist Will Willimon's response to Alabama's immigration law. Calls it "Meanest in US" Worth reading. )