In December, we are going to Miami for a family reunion. We are going to be driving through Alabama to Tallahassee for the first part (we are doing this over 2 days). I have emailed both the governor and the secretary of state of Alabama asking if it’s safe for us to drive though. The reason I ask this is due to my wife having dark skin (she’s Latina). I haven’t gotten a reply from either yet. We are going to be on the main roads so I don’t think there will be any issues, but…
Any suggestions on how to keep ourselves safe?
Edit - just heard from the Secretary of State there
"Absolutely! Please make sure you stop at every exit in each county you pass through to purchase gasoline, food, clothing, or to be otherwise entertained!
Please make sure you let me know if we can be helpful to you!"
You’re fine. Alabama people are really nice. They tend to do their racism behind people’s back but are nice in person. The only cases I know where people had incidents were more like long running issues between neighbors that took an ugly turn.
Obey the traffic laws like your life depends on it.
People give me a hard time for driving slowly, safely, and like a cop is following me. But, I do it for a reason, I’m Latina in hillbilly-land. I’m white, but my name looks “suspiciously foreign” to some. That’s when I turn on the valley girl, like, ya’ kno’, accent, or whatever? I’m not suggesting she do that, it’s mostly a defense mechanism on my part.
That’s all I have, but I hope you both (all?) stay safe.
Also, carry copies of any legal documents that prove she’s in the country legally (birth certificate, marriage license, etc.).
I would also suggest making sure you only stop for gas, food, etc. in the bigger cities. If you have any concerns, she should stay in the car and you should go in to pay for gas, grab some snacks, etc. That won’t work at the hotel, obviously, so definitely make sure that’s in a major population area.
Everyone is so nice and friendly, until all of a sudden they aren’t.
If you’re looking for places to stop, Huntsville is arguably the most cosmopolitan city in the state. As Atlanta is to Georgia, Huntsville is to Alabama (on a much smaller scale). And there’s the Space and Rocket Center, well worth a visit if you’re into that kind of thing, with all kinds of NASA memorabilia. For historical exhibits (not for launch facilities), it rivals KSC, and it’s much easier to do a quick visit. But if you’re on a long trip maybe you just want to get to Miami in one piece.
We are going straight though to Tallahassee (where we are spending the night). We’ll be on the main roads only and will probably only get off at truck stops or not too far off the road. We’ll be fine, but I figured I would ask anyhow thanks to the racist in chief in the WH.
that is the big concern. But we’ll stick to the main roads and try to get through to Florida as fast as possible. Then we run into a new set of concerns.
At this point, I feel like I should just nuke everything to the sides of the roads we are going to be on, just to clear out the ignorant racist fucks that might be there…
Some people can go anywhere they want and not be hassled by anybody. Others are hassled everywhere.
Others (such as myself) get hassled occasionally, so we falsely think that we have experienced the end-all-be-all in discrimination. As they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Most of this country is inaccessible to much of the population, and the rest of us don’t even realize this.
I see it more as an inoculation rather than an end-all-be-all. The little bit one experiences and learns is unacceptable teaches that even more is even more unacceptable.
