Fresh News From Montgomery – Barrett Gilbreath finds it difficult to live in Montgomery and terrifying.
He says this in one of his campaign advertisements. A campaign for mayor of the city is so terrifying that it drove him and his family to Florida a couple of years ago.
He’s returned to “fight” for Montgomery. And to “save” his hometown. And undertake the “hard thing” of parenting his children in town.
The political ads attacking Montgomery’s incumbent mayor, Steven Reed, never explicitly state who is behind them or who Reed is fighting against, but it’s not hard to guess.
The mayoral race has become a battleground for the ongoing struggle against racism in Alabama, with Reed, the city’s first Black mayor, facing off against opponent Gilbreath.
While there are two other candidates in the race, statistically, it’s a two-person contest. Reed’s tenure as mayor has been marked by significant accomplishments, including bringing in billions of dollars in new business, tackling long-standing education funding issues, and fostering a welcoming environment for minority-owned businesses.
However, he has faced criticism for crime rates and education, two issues that are deeply rooted in Montgomery’s history of racism and segregation. After the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, Montgomery’s school system quickly became segregated by neighbourhoods and private schools.
The city had the highest concentration of private schools, known as “segregation academies,” in the country for a time, and that segregation has persisted. Today, Montgomery’s public schools are over 95% minority students, with high numbers of free and reduced lunch and special needs students.
In contrast, the majority of children from affluent families attend private schools that are over 90% white. Despite the clear link between racism, poverty, and education in Montgomery, many residents fail to acknowledge the damage done to generations of children forced to attend underfunded, impoverished schools and live in neglected neighbourhoods.
The hard truths of this reality are often overlooked, perhaps because some residents spent their entire childhoods sequestered in segregated private schools.
The tendency to blame individuals instead of addressing underlying societal issues has led to a perpetual cycle of problems. It’s a convenient approach for those who come from privileged backgrounds to assign blame and complain instead of working on solutions. This is similar to what mayoral candidate David Gilbreath is doing in Montgomery.
Gilbreath’s campaign is full of generalizations that don’t stand up to scrutiny. He promises to “fight for Montgomery,” but when asked how he would tackle crime, his answer is to hire more police.
However, Gilbreath’s primary attributes are being white and relatable to certain Montgomery voters. That’s why he was recruited. It’s important to note that Gilbreath was recruited for this race.
Campaign finance records reveal that ALFA, with a $25,000 donation, and Alabama Builders PAC, with a staggering $195,000 donation, are backing him. ALFA is known for meddling in Montgomery’s efforts to increase property taxes and provide more funding to the poorly funded public school system, while Alabama Builders PAC is not made up of actual builders.
The focus on blaming individuals instead of addressing systemic issues is not a solution. Gilbreath’s candidacy seems to be more about appealing to a certain demographic than offering meaningful solutions. The real issue is the structural problems in society that need to be addressed.
Builders all over the state make small donations to a political action committee (PAC) each month. However, during June, the PAC received a large influx of cash from non-builders. The donors included former Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, who contributed $10,000, and owners of a couple of insurance agencies and two car dealers, who gave $30,000 and $20,000, respectively.
In addition, several actual Montgomery-area builders and property management companies made significant five-figure donations. The donors were predominantly white businessmen in Montgomery, who historically enjoyed easy access to the mayor’s office and its advantages.
However, over the last four years, their access to the mayor has been limited. The rules have not been as flexible, and their complaints have not been addressed as promptly or satisfactorily as before. These businessmen are uncomfortable with the changes and want a new mayor. To achieve this, they are willing to turn the mayor’s race into a race about race. They want to save Montgomery from the current Black mayor, his Black friends, and the Black criminals who are making life miserable for whites by not keeping crime in their neighbourhoods.
The truth is that there have been no new problems in Montgomery since Reed took office, and several issues have been resolved in recent years. But the reality does not matter because wealthy white men are having to follow the actual rules, which they find unacceptable.
Fresh News From Montgomery –
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