Sometimes I’m glad when I’m wrong.
On December 12, 2017, I sat at my office desk and watched the Doug Jones/Roy Moore election numbers trickle in. In the beginning, Roy Moore took the lead and it seemed like he had it in the bag.
Not long before, I’d written an article detailing why I believed Moore would win, having grown up in Alabama and knowing that it’s always (Republican) politics over people. Plus, after seeing *a focus group of Birmingham residents (all White, all Republican) explain why they supported Roy Moore despite the allegations and one older gentleman going as far as to call Black voters “stupid” (6:29 mark), I knew it was over for Doug.
Alabama has always been a solid-red state with a blue stripe running just below the middle. That stripe has never been enough to change the outcome of an election, but somehow it did.
I was stunned to say the least. When the polls closed, Doug Jones was announced as the winner. It was a narrow victory — 49.9% to 48.4% — but a victory nonetheless.
How did this happen? Two words: Black women.
Black female voters showed up in droves to vote against Moore, saving the state from being represented in Congress by a homophobic and transphobic racist who enjoys brandishing pistols at campaign rallies and pretending to be The Lone Ranger on his way to the voting booth.
The history of his extremist beliefs and actions fall under the guise of following God’s Word — even pursuing teenage girls as a grown man, since “Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became the parents of Jesus,” as Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler told the Washington Examiner before the election, in Moore’s defense.
A large majority of White women in Alabama supported Moore despite his convictions and the charges against him, reflecting a long history of the state’s acceptance of misogyny and its effect on the White female mind. It also reflects their willingness to follow along with the political choices of their male counterparts, despite some of those decisions not being in the best interests for women overall.
But the outpouring of Black female voters in Alabama, coupled with the minority of White female voters who didn’t support Moore, changed that dynamic this time around.
There’s no doubt that Black women have endured the most cruel and inhumane treatment of any focused group in American history, the aftermath of their suffering having changed the course of everything from modern medicine to women’s rights.
J. Marion Sims purchased slave women and performed gynecological experiments on them without anesthesia because, as he is quoted saying, “Black women don’t feel pain.” He is also credited with being the Father of Modern Gynecology, as some of his techniques are still used in modern examinations.
Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951, had two cervical tissue samples removed without her knowledge or consent for the study of cell replication. HeLa cells, as they’ve been nicknamed, have played a crucial role in the creation of the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, and countless other treatments that have changed the way major diseases are remedied.
Biotech and pharmaceutical companies continue to reap enormous amounts of profits from life-saving medications derived from ongoing experiments to HeLa cells. Yet, Henrietta’s family has spent decades enduring generations of poverty, suffering, and lack of healthcare coverage while her genome continues to save millions of lives around the world.
Today, as the #MeToo movement has taken off and cast a much-needed spotlight on women who’ve been the victims of sexual harassment and assault, people are just realizing that the founder of this movement and its catchphrase is a Black woman named Tarana Burke. She started the group in 2007 to aid underprivileged women of color affected by sexual abuse, something she felt needed to be done discreetly in order to be effective.
The privilege and platform of Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and other Hollywood actresses gave the words new life and meaning, bringing it out of the darkness and onto the stage of social media. Millions of women (and men), both famous and non-famous, began sharing their experiences of abuse, assault, and harassment by those in positions of power.
Tarana’s two word inception manifested well beyond its intent. Fortunately, she’s been acknowledged by the more affluent activists as the movement’s originator and has been given public recognition by her peers while continuing the work she started over a decade ago.
For every Oprah, Shonda Rhimes, and Beyoncé, there are many Black women whose efforts aren’t recognized in the public spotlight and many more throughout history that may never be.
But there are those of us who were raised by Black women and have watched what they’ve endured, persisting against unjust circumstances with indescribable strength and determination despite the lack of notoriety.
We always see you and will always recognize you.
Black women, you are the true Beastmasters.
Thank you for saving us once again.
*The video above should be watched in its entirety to get a better understanding of what White Republican voters in Alabama think about race, women, and politics.
Other articles by Broken Seals:
The Red Beast of Alabama will Elect Roy Moore
https://medium.com/@BrokenSeals/roysredbeast-ec9b88114d9d
America will Not Be a Brown Country Someday
https://medium.com/@BrokenSeals/america-will-not-be-a-brown-country-someday-202db783664c
Denial is a River in the South
https://byrslf.co/denial-river-37f0c1c871be
I Was Once an Impressionable Boy Scout
