by Caroline
The students read a quotation from Dr. King at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery.
So far, I’ve been quite impressed with this city. The city buildings were absolutely gorgeous – there were memorials and statues everywhere. The buildings, especially the government ones, were built with extreme skill. Rachel told me that Alabama had low taxes and didn’t want any in general. She told me that the taxes paid for all the public services, like buildings, for example, which begs the question: how were the buildings so well built? Apparently the poverty there is pretty bad in some parts so where’s the money coming from? I still don’t know but it raises some pretty good questions about the Alabama economy.
One of the weird things that I noticed was that I was actually a little surprised to see white people working as waiters and waitresses. Not in a bad way, just that my brain had subconsciously accepted the fact that there are more blacks than whites working those jobs. The fact that this started having an affect on me says something about racism in the states we’ve passed through… Birmingham was one of the most stubborn and segregated cities in the nation. So I’ll have to see how that place deals with racism.
Civil Rights Road Trip 
Hi Caroline,
The AL State House was built in the 1850s, which was a decade of growth and change for the agricultural state. It was also the capital of the Confederacy for a time. Its glory is a reflection of Alabama’s past, not necessarily a reflection of modern-day taxation. AL has a peculiar taxation system; over 85% of all revenue is earmarked for certain categories, like building construction, public schools, and roads. (The average for all other states is about 23%.) The problem is that if only 3% is marked for education but 10% is marked for buildings, you’ll have better buildings than public schools. (I made up those percentages for effect, by the way). AL also has the lowest property tax rate in the nation, but because the tax is structured around land use not value, it doesn’t amount to much. Today, about 25% of all revenue comes from property taxes; whereas, 60% comes from sales taxes. This ratio creates a burden on the poor and spares corporations and large landowners. It’s the primary reason why Alabama ranks dead last in every category imaginable in public services.
Catherine
Hi Caroline,
The AL State House was built in the 1850s, which was a decade of growth and change for the agricultural state. It was also the capital of the Confederacy for a time. Its glory is a reflection of Alabama’s past, not necessarily a reflection of modern-day taxation. AL has a peculiar taxation system; over 85% of all revenue is earmarked for certain categories, like building construction, public schools, and roads. (The average for all other states is about 23%.) The problem is that if only 3% is marked for education but 10% is marked for buildings, you’ll have better buildings than public schools. (I made up those percentages for effect, by the way). AL also has the lowest property tax rate in the nation, but because the tax is structured around land use not value, it doesn’t amount to much. Today, about 25% of all revenue comes from property taxes; whereas, 60% comes from sales taxes. This ratio creates a burden on the poor and spares corporations and large landowners. It’s the primary reason why Alabama ranks dead last in every category imaginable in public services.
Catherine
(for some reason, it says I’ve commented, but I don’t see it. Sorry for the multiple postings!)
I really appreciate your attention to place and spaces (and the people that inhabit them!), Caroline! There is a lot of good detective work to be done when thinking about the “built environment.” Such as: When were these government buildings constructed? Who built them? Were the workforces integrated? Were the builders all white? all Black? all male? Was there a difference between the federal and state buildings, in terms of who built them and the racial (& gender) politics around their construction? There is a lot there!
Hi, Caroline,
I’m glad you’re thinking about taxes and buildings – these are topics that seem at first to be very boring but actually raise a lot of interesting questions about government, the public interest, and social justice!
Why do you think Alabama has and wants low property taxes, when low taxation rates affect what the state is able to provide to its residents? As Catherine pointed out, this dynamic gives businesses a lot of power (and a lot of benefits) – what do you think the impact has been in Alabama?
Also, your point about waiters and waitresses also raises a question about socioeconomic class. Based on what you’ve learned on this road trip, what kind of links have you seen between race and class? How could thinking about class change how we think about the civil rights movement?