Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers:
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Jan. 22
The Florence TimesDaily on a bill that aims to reduce child hot car deaths:
Rep. Randy Wood, R-Anniston, plans to introduce a bill in this upcoming legislative session that would require all day care facilities in Alabama to call a child’s guardian if the child is not at the center by 9:30 a.m.
Wood is hoping to reduce the chances of an accidental hot-car death caused by parents who mistakenly leave their children in their cars.
The bill, called the Cash Edwin Jordan Act, is named after an 11-month-old boy who died last year after being left in the back seat of a car with his twin sister. Their father forgot to take them to day care before going to work.
“I think if we can just save one child’s life, everything is worthwhile,” Wood said of his bill.
According to the National Safety Council, 51 children died in hot cars last year, three of those in Alabama. While Wood’s concern about hot-car deaths is viable, we’re not sure this is the way to go about it.
As written, the law would apply to any and all day cares in the state, even privatized ones. If a child that normally comes to the day care is not there by 9:30 a.m., the day care operators would be required to call the parents. If the operators have called all the numbers they have without success, then “they’ve done all they can do,” Wood said.
But here’s the real catch to a process that Wood believes will be easy to implement: Is it fair to hold day care operators responsible for something that is ultimately out of their control?
What happens on that hectic morning when there are a lot of late arrivals and the day care operator is scrambling at 9:30 a.m. trying to deal with parents who have last-minute directions to leave with the operators? And don’t forget the children who are already present who need oversight as well.
What if the day care providers just get so busy they fail to make a call for the one child that didn’t show up today? If that child becomes a victim of a hot-car incident, will the day care operators face a fine, or jail time, or civil lawsuits?
Is it fair to shift the responsibility for the welfare of a child to a third party? Shouldn’t that responsibility remain with the persons truly responsible for the child - the parents?
There’s also concerns about increased day care costs due to additional insurance, record keeping, and staffing, which because of the higher costs could push more kids into alternative situations that are less structured.
One child lost is definitely too many, and the intentions are good, but this bill is misguided.
Online: http://www.timesdaily.com
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Jan. 18
The Cullman Times on continuing the work of Martin Luther King Jr.:
A minister and activist, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached nonviolent civil disobedience as the catalyst to change despite violent opposition to the civil rights movement.
Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, long before he could see how far his movement has come. His famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 remains one of the most stirring, powerful speeches ever.
But Dr. King was also practical, and as early as 1961, was looking ahead to what came after the battle for desegregation was won. In a document from April 27, 1961, he wrote:
“And so, many bright young men and women, in their quiet moments, are asking themselves about life after college - especially after the big exciting hand-to-hand struggle with Jim Crow is done.
Almost all of them realize that the new frontier will be ‘integration’ rather than ‘desegregation’ and that this makes quite a difference. The latter means the removal of legal and customary barriers that have separated individuals and groups. These are mostly tangible and external such as laws and ‘For White Only’ signs. In a word, desegregation is the opening up of public facilities and serves to everyone.
On the other hand, integration is much more subtle and internal for it involves attitudes: the mutual acceptance of individuals and groups. Desegregation usually precedes integration, the former making the latter possible. But this is not automatic. Once the laws between them have been struck down, both Negroes and Whites will still need to win friends across the invisible, though nonetheless real, psychological color lines. Such a challenge will be more difficult and less glorious.”
Dr. King was confident that the next generation would be well-equipped to lead our nation down the path to integration. And while much progress has been made, there is more to be done. He was right to say it is “more difficult and less glorious,” but it’s the path of the righteous. It is the path to the destination Dr. King laid before us: “I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.”
Online: http://www.cullmantimes.com
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Jan. 18
The Dothan Eagle on the importance of voting in Alabama’s March primary election:
Political campaigns are building momentum, with candidates making the rounds to urge voters to choose the oval beside their name when they go to the polls for the primaries in March. It’s representational government in action, and should draw the attention and participation of every American of voting age, regardless of their interest or disdain for politics.
It should, but it doesn’t. In some countries, citizens will walk for miles to participate in the selection of their nation’s leadership. Meanwhile, voter turnout in Alabama remains disappointing.
In the primary elections in March 2016, Alabama had 3.06 million registered voters. Of those, 1.26 million ballots were cast, according to the Alabama secretary of state’s office. That’s 41.4%.
Participation was better in the general election that year, with roughly two-thirds of voters participating. Of 3.19 million registered voters, 2.13 million votes were cast.
One explanation offered by people who don’t vote is that they believe one vote won’t make a difference.
We beg to differ about the power of one.
Robert Byrd of Hartford met a young man in Guatemala whose future looked grim. That meeting made an extraordinary difference in many lives.
One vote may not have the same potential as Byrd’s singular decision in Guatemala 25 years ago, but it has extraordinary power when joined by thousands of others.
Make your plans now for the March 3 primaries. There’s plenty of time to locate your polling place and adjust your calendar to allow for this important right.
Online: https://www.dothaneagle.com
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