Driving through Alabama

+1 for following the traffic laws to a T.

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.

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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.

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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.

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The biggest worry will be L.A. (Lower Alabama). Man there is some crazy shit down thataway.

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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.

Sigh, I wish flying was convenient.

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Maybe it’s time for an updated edition of this.

And that’s probably the most depressing thought I will have today.

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probably. Since the white supremacists are in power and there is no easy way to get rid of them short of FUCKING THEIR SHIT UP!!!

sorry, I get passionate about our country going to hell due to people who can’t put together a coherent sentence.

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Is Alabama demonstrably more racist and dangerous than other states?

The NAACP issued a travel advisory for Missouri :frowning:

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That I don’t know. It’s Alabama, it’s in the South so that’s why I was concerned. If an advisory is issued for the state, then we’ll be extra careful.

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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…

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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.

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Are you coming from the north, or the west? Because if it’s the west, go through south Louisiana rather than north.

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the North from Tennessee.

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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.

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Maybe skip this town

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Nowhere near our route, but thanks for the head’s up…

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Just get a pro-Confederate bumpersticker, or two. You’ll be fine.

Something like…

Or

Or my personal favorite:

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Alternately, this:

That might make the trip a bit more memorable than desired, though. :wink:

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You know, your post brought something to mind I had not thought of in a few years.

A fascinating documentary of driving through Alabama. It’s from, I think, 2007 but it is as relevent as ever.

“I honestly beleive that in certain parts of America now people have started to mate with vegetables.”

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If you really want to fit in, throw one of these bumper stickers on the back, so everyone knows that the real divide in your family is not racial, but your college football team allegiance.

One of my favorite all time shows is Hart of Dixie, and one of my favorite ongoing riffs in this post-racial South is when the black town major/former Auburn star is dating the white “Belle” woman - a diehard Bama fan, and she hasn’t yet told her family that - gasp - he played football for Auburn. They will never understand.

In the South, some things are bigger than race. And those things are college football.

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