If you live in a ‘red state,’ your government is constantly in competition to be the most racist and bigoted state in the United States. It’s not easy, but Alabama has succeeded more than any other throughout the last decade.

Birmingham passed a law increasing the minimum wage in the city to $10.10 per hour. The state Senate decided that that was an outrageous wage for a working person to earn in the state. Although Alabama has no state minimum, it has supported the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, a wage which has existed since 2009. They voted to revoke the increase.

The black population of Alabama is approximately 27 percent of the state’s total; most of them live in or near the larger cities. Available jobs are primarily in the service industry. As of 2013, Alabama was the fifth poorest state in the union with 18.6 percent of the population living below the poverty level; the largest percentage of which are blacks, and that number is rising.

Alabama’s state government either remains in a misguided belief that raising the minimum wage discourages business from hiring additional employees, or it is purposefully keeping the black population in a form of servitude.

A family of four cannot live on $7.25 an hour. If an individual works 40 hours a week, the gross income for that person is just under $14,000 per year.

Using Birmingham as an example, the lowest rent available for a two-bedroom apartment is between $450 and $685 per month. That averages approximately $7,000 a year, not including utilities. Very few ‘low-rent’ apartments are available.

Alabama continues to pass legislation which will move the state backwards.

In 2000 a federal judge allowed Tuscaloosa to repeal anti-segregation laws in the city’s schools. Since that time the antiquated ‘separate but equal’ statutes have returned, and the schools have become less diverse.

Alabama passed voter ID laws, which are a thinly-disguised effort to keep black men and women from casting their ballots.

Alabama attempted to remove Planned Parenthood from the state, but was ordered to reinstate the organization by a federal judge.

Alabama continues to lead the nation with legal action adversely affecting the poor; primarily black families.

Many red states are attempting to move our nation backwards and repeal and revoke the advances made in the last 60 years. Alabama leads the way, closely followed by Texas, Indiana, and Georgia.

There are many reasons why our nation’s people are suffering from gross income inequality, and most of them are because our federal government continues to support the wealthy class. But others fall to state’s governors and legislators who continue to pass legislation which adversely affects the bottom third income bracket.

Are there any more questions why America is no longer the ‘greatest country in the world?’

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source

Photo Courtesy of James Willamor

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