For Roy Wood Jr., Alabama Is Painful History, New Hope and Home

wow...brave man...love you on the daily show

I noticed "... from the South to California..." a couple of times regarding racial violence. I get that acts of racist terror happened outside of Alabama, and that racism is institutionalized across the country, but Alabama still seems bent on calling that "heritage." Face it. Had it not been for the young girl thing, heavily Christian Alabama would have sent another far-right racist homophobe to Washington. Until Alabama can actually demonstrate change outside of two museums and a surge of (rightful, finally) black representation in majority black counties, I'll continue to proudly say "I escaped from Alabama."

I sure hope Roy gets to read some of these comments on his wonderful article. I grew up in Birmingham--or, rather, "over the mountain" in the then lily-white suburb of Mountain Brook. But felt a natural affinity for Birmingham proper, which was much more interesting, funky, and where my father worked. This article gives a real flavor for what's been going on actually for some decades in that fascinating place that had to struggle out from under the horrendous Bull Connor-era reputation it earned at the height of the troubles of half a century ago. All you have to look at are the great restaurants and integrated public and private schools that've tried hard to transcend. On the other hand "over the mountain," when I visit, still seems an enclave where the power khaki-attired white folks play WASP golf together. I think Baptist churches still break down along color lines don't they? Anybody who can update me on this please reply here. So it's a mixed bag. Great new people arriving in Jefferson and Shelby Counties. But still much evidence, especially out of the latter, on voting-rights suppression. Roy I want you to be right about everything you say. Optimistically, we can agree it's a work in progress. but the progress part is very real.

What a great read! And especially interesting as I just road tripped from NYC to New Orleans with a few days stop in Birmingham mostly to see the EJI museum and memorial. I've taken enough road trips south to learn not to be surprised when I love a place I have preconceptions about. But still, I was surprised at how progressive and hopping Birmingham was and how stunning Montgomery--that architecture!--was. And I had a similarly profound reaction to the museum. LIke a punch to the gut and deeply painful. I also had some fantastic meals in both cities and loved Birmingham's fantastic farmer's market. I thought we had great produce at our NYC markets, but this was a whole 'nother level. I'll definitely go back.

Three things. (1) As a fellow Alabama native, I thank Roy Wood for his message of hope about our native state. (2) I offer some practical tips about visiting the Peace and Justice Memorial. Go in March or April, or October or November, not in August as we did. The Memorial is an outdoor experience and the outdoors of the South is not air conditioned. Also, there is a lot of walking. If someone in your party has mobility problems they will probably need a mobility scooter or at least a rollator with a seat for resting and you need to bring these with you as only manual push wheetchairs are offered at the Memorial. (3) I attended college in Birmingham from 1963-1967. There is a world of difference in Birmingham of that era and Birmingham today. But world class restaurants, and better race relations are not the only things that are different. The steel mills were still going at almost full blast in 1963 with no pollution regulations -- making the air almost unbreathable on many days. Ultimately the demise of the blast furnaces and steel mills and the rise of the EPA helped Birmingham become a much more liveable place. Now major employment in Birmingham is in much cleaner jobs of medicine, education, finance, publishing, etc. It was a long and painful transition from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, but beware a return to manufacturing and heavy industry without an effective EPA!

Alabam You’ve got the rest of the Union to help you along What’s going wrong?

Interesting that most of the article is about the new lynching museum which is NOT in Birmingham but Montgomery - the original home of the civil rights movement.

Over the years I've planned many of my trips around the USA by reference to National Parks. Two years ago I read "Deep South" by Paul Theroux. It reminded me that "the south" is about the one remaining area I hadn't been to. So, in May 2018, we headed to Nashville (on the then new BA nonstop from London). We worked our way down through Huntsville, Birmingham, Tuskeege, Montgomery, Selma and Meridian to New Orleans and then back though Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Natchez, Vicksburg, Hot Springs, Memphis, Paris, Paducah, Bowling Green, Mammoth Cave and back to Nashville. We visited all the museums mentioned by Roy as well as the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. We also visited some plantation homes (and their city counterparts). I came away with a number of memories. I think we were both surprised by the trees; big, deciduous and everywhere. The people we met were (as always in the USA) friendly and helpful. In particular the gentleman and his wife who picked up in their tow truck when a tyre on our Avis car went bang (literally, we heard the bang and the back of the car dropped). But, in the end I think the one place we visited that had the greatest effect on me was the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. As a young man I had seen the TV reports (yes, even in the UK) about some of the events like the march from Selma to Montgomery and understood the injustice involved but I had never really appreciated the violence involved.

Thanks Roy for writing about Alabama. I grew up in Jackson, Ms in the 1960's and now live in Washington State. In my travels and even now,I find myself also doing PR for the south. I have practiced saying, "I"m from Mississippi." with pride rather than apology in my voice. The south is changing and I find this amazingly exciting each time I return. I encourage folks who have never ventured into those parts to do so, to experience the richness, both in pain and in delight, in the region.

Roy Wood, Jr. not only are you my favorite comedian on the Daily Show, but you are also a mighty fine writer, your metaphor of secondary fires quite apt for rekindling of racism unless we go to the original sources. Although I’ve driven through Alabama on the way to the Panhandle, your descriptions make me interested to return. And don’t forget the best to come out of Alabama is your wit!

"But the fact that the museum even exists shows a willingness to confront the horrible past." Sorry Roy Moore, but you make it seem as if white people created the Legacy Museum to begin addressing its immorality for supporting white supremacy and the system of segregation and it's practice of lynching. EJI created the museum to boldly force white people to deal with this fact and to support African Americans and its allies to never forget.

I encourage, urge, each person outside of the black race, to walk away from the memorials with a promise to self to learn more about the race. Getting emotionally choked up is a welcome experience. However, until we can live respectfully among each other, without racist stereotypes, it's just an experience. Life is daily. Prejudice is deep. Ask a black women, why... Ask a black man why... If you ask out of simple curiosity rather than accusation, the conversation will be life changing. No reasonable person wants to hang on to anger or be labeled as such. No person wants to fear modern-day lynching (stand your ground/police killing) at every turn. So, start a conversation, you may be pleasantly pleased where it may lead.

This was beautiful. Thank you.

This type of optimistic text is so needed to publicize how change is being done to repair past wrongdoings the correct way. I'm so reassured that there is a city in the south working to demonstrate for other cities in the south how to productively steer away from deep-rooted racial issues. But I'm also glad there is a city in the United States to demonstrate for the rest of the country how to not overdo those reparations and to fix them substantively instead.

Brilliant op-ed from one of my favorite Daily Show correspondents. I've been wanting to see the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and now will add the Legacy Museum to the list.

I enjoyed this essay. I have been impressed with Roy Wood Jr. on the Daily Show and this essay shows he has a broader range of talent than just comedy. If you haven't seen him on the Daily Show, for a good introduction, do a search on You Tube for "The Best of Roy Wood Jr. on the Daily Show" which is a compilation of some of his best pieces.

I will be just fine if I live my entire life and never set foot in Alabama or Mississippi.

Great article. The Alabama Theater (pictured) is on 18th Street North (not south).

Odd that the photo of the grand Alabama Theatre is really of the side entrance, the delivery door, not the main entrance on First Avenue, the marquee side.

My father - a white geezer at the time - got me interested in Negro Leagues baseball and to know that the Barons - the team of a very young Willie Mays - are thriving makes this baseball fan happy, indeed. Now, as I've become that aforementioned white (non-Trump voting) geezer, I'm not that hopeful for Alabama or a couple of its neighbors. Had Roy Moore not had those accusations hanging over his head, no way Doug Jones would've won that election; Alabama would've sent to Washington another racist, homophobic climate change denying put the fear of god into you Republican. Its white underclass, as it does in Mississippi, Arkansas, South Carolina - you name it - will keep voting against its interests for fear that people of color will somehow destroy that oh so wonderful life of working three jobs without health insurance and on occasion having to decide paying the electric bill of buying Hamburger Helper. Until someone who looks like them comes along and convinces the under-educated poor whites down south - and everywhere else for that matter - that Bulworth - yeah, that fictional guy - was right when he said, perhaps inartfully, that "White folks have more in common with colored folks that they do with rich folks," ain't nothing gonna change.

Many union boilermakers from Birmingham and Muscle Shoals came up to Chicago to work out of our hiring hall. Good hands and good union people. And being union isn’t easy in a state so hostile to workers. But who cares, as long as there are good restaurants and craft beers, right? Restaurants are the churches of the new bourgeois (did I spell that right?).

Thank you for the chance to walk alongside Roy Wood Jr. as he explores, with quiet dignity, the horror as well as the hopefulness in his home state.

First, Roy, it's great to read something so serious from you. I always love to see you on TV, where you're always funny. I start to smile before you even say anything. Second, the history of racism in Alabama is sickening. But they should get credit for being more honest about it than many other states. These museums are very much like the truth commissions of some African and South American countries, and also remind me of the greater honesty of Germany about the Holocaust compared to most other countries that willingly (even happily) participated in mass murder. One thing Roy left out: the top restaurant in the country , according to the James Beard Foundation, and the top pastry chef, were both from Birmingham this year.

We have both the sites you so eloquently discuss on our list of important places to visit and soon. We will add your food recommendations too. Alabama has a great ambassadors in you.

I spent most of my adult life living in Birmingham and worked hard to try and make it a better place. After seeing only incremental improvements, I decided to leave. Birmingham is indeed way better that it was just a few years ago but it is still within a state having zero interest in supporting any kind of progressive agenda in the city or anywhere else. There is no home rule so, for example, when Birmingham tried to raise its minimum wage, that initiative was killed by the Alabama Legislature. Raise the minimum wage in Birmingham? No way. The state is incredibly poor and yet an Auburn University professor emeritus of history, Wayne Flint, once said the only thing Alabama is willing to spend an unlimited amount of money on is football. So, by all means visit Birmingham if you are so inclined. It is one of those cities that seems pretty decent if you are just passing through. Living there is another matter.

Thank you for your thoughtful piece. I relocated to Birmingham from DC back in 2003 and was concerned about the dark history that clung to the city. I have been pleasantly surprised by the kindness and hospitality of the people here and their desire to improve this great city. Are there still a few holdouts on both sides? Absolutely, but you are correct in your assessment that the city is slowly moving in the right direction. AND the city has fabulous restaurants. Thank you!

I was born at St. Vincent’s hospital in Manhattan and lived in Brooklyn for my entire life before moving to Birmingham last April. Next month, I will open my first business (a bar). Bar #2 is already in the works. I’m 29. The author is correct - Birmingham is a hidden gem as well as an incredible place for young entrepreneurs, particularly in the food & beverage industry. Not only is the cost of living to quality of life ratio insane, tax and other economic incentives plentiful, and real estate abundant; the city is home to an incredibly vibrant food scene. Adjusted for population, we have a huge number of James Beard Award nominees and winners, an accelerating rate of new bars and restaurants opening, and Meredith recently moved their food content division here. People who live here appreciate good food and the hard work that goes into creating it. While it’s certainly different from Brooklyn, I love being able to pursue my dreams in a place where doing so is far more fiscally responsible (and possible) than in a larger market. I love the incredible sense of support and community and how I was welcomed here with open arms. I love getting to interact with people from different backgrounds and with different viewpoints, and for us both to come away from those interactions with greater empathy and understanding. I hope that articles like this will encourage more people to visit Alabama and realize that this state is more than a stereotype. Great things are happening here.

I've visited my hometown of Birmingham and noticed wonderful changes in recent years. There is also a thriving arts culture, which is always a good sign -- Sidewalk Film Festival and Red Mountain Theater Company are building wonderful national reputations.

This moved me. In my youth, (late 50’s early 60’s), I spent a a lot of time living with relatives in Birmingham and Mobile and I remember the South the author describes. Some have compared the Civil Rights legislation to surgery and recovery; that is to say, with the legislation our country succeeded in the operating room but then failed in the rehab.

My husband and I visited the Museum and Memorial, the Equal Justice Initiative's bookstore and other civil rights sites in Montgomery, including the Freedom Rides Museum. Lordy, what we found out we didn't know and hadn't ever been taught. The trip did not feel burdensome. It felt the way you feel when you start to understand something. And the Memorial is so beautiful. The people were friendly, the riverfront was lovely, the food was great. The Equal Justice Initiative's website is also worth a visit.

I like the optimism but have mixed feelings about the low expectations that seem to underline a lot of this optimism. Starting from such a low spot hardly seems worth celebrating to me.

Thank you for sharing. As a native Alabamian, I'm proud of the changes in my home state. No doubt, there are so many more changes to make. These times have taught us much about who we are and what we have chosen to ignore or pretend doesn't exist. I am hopeful that we will continue to tear down walls and extinguish the hidden fires. Truth will continue to be revealed, it's our choice whether we accept it and move toward the future with change.

Living in Birmingham, Roy is generally spot on. One thing that many newcomers notice that in Birmingham people look you in the eye and smile. We live in a very friendly city. We have the same open-mindedness and prejudice that every state has. We are improving every year. Come and visit. Have some BBQ and then eat at a 5 star James Beard award winning restaurant for dinner. Go to the Civil Rights Museum. There is much to enjoy in the Magic City.

The land of my parents seemed so hateful to me as a child. I could not wait to leave Alabama and I do have a hard time defending my home state. When I go back to visit I try to see the good things that are happening there. Many people are working hard to bring Alabama into the Future. With time, patience and a lot of Love there may come a day when my grandchildren will think that Alabama is a fine place to live.

Two companies in northern Alabama are on my favorites list: Alabama Chanin and the Little River Sock Mill. Their stories and products epitomize slow and sustainable fashion with a definite sense of adventure.

Thanks for much of this progress should be immediately extended to state and local officials who went way out on a financial limb to induce Mercedes Benz to build a factory in Tuscaloosa County, leading to a wave of subsequent investment and thousands of quality jobs.

Thank you, Roy Wood. I am from Marion, Alabama. It's difficult to reconcile the history we made with my love for the land and rhythms of the Black Belt. The memorial and museum in Montgomery and Roy Moore's defeat are powerful testaments that Alabama is not the sum of racism. There will always be bigots and racists, neither of which are exclusive to the South, but victory lies with the louder chorus. I am with you. I like what I am hearing from home these days. Keep the faith.

wishful thinking... I sat in a restaurant not far from Birmingham patronized by an all white clientele... I heard nothing that suggested to me things are changing... in fact, the sentiments were hardening... infused with conspiracy theories, trump, and god... it was depressing and frightening... cry Alabama and nation...

The final sentence ends with these words "very few places will leave you with a sense of optimism for what’s to come." It can be understood in several senses. It's a warning to Americans that "very few places will leave you with a sense of optimism for what’s to come." Indeed.

Thank you, Roy. I'm a white woman from NJ who has never been inclined to visit Alabama, mostly because of its racist history. I've read about the Memorial for Peace and Justice, but did not know about the Legacy Museum. Your hopeful attitude about your state has changed my outlook. Thank you.

Thank you Roy! This was well written and I appreciate your hopefulness. I feel like we are living in dark and depressing time in our country's history but, it is not as horrific as what has happened in the past.

Thank you Roy Wood for this uplifting piece. Thanks to the NYT for publishing it. A little hope for this dark time.