Kellen Jones wears a Confederate battle flag belt buckle during what was supposed to be the Montgomery election night party of Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. (Kevin D. Liles/The New York Times)“Alabama has thrown off the dead hand of George Wallace,” said Howell Raines on Tuesday night after Roy Moore’s stunning senatorial defeat.
Raines, a renowned American journalist, former New York Times executive editor and native Alabamian, was both profound and correct. But he missed a deeper point.
Alabama women slapped away – before it could take hold again – the nasty hand of Roy Moore, saying enough is enough.
In the most stunning upset since our presidential race in 2016, Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Republican Roy Moore in a state that’s been beyond red for a quarter of a century – a state where for centuries, being black and being female was like being invisible unless someone needed a mark or a scapegoat.
Moore is a twice defrocked judge who recently was dogged by credible allegations of child sexual predation on teens as young as 14 when he was an Etowah County prosecutor in his 30s. Add to this, that Moore openly talked of his nostalgia for a time when slavery remained. He also openly espoused bigotry toward Muslims and talked of his hope to see homosexuality criminalized.