By By Jennifer Davis Rash and Sondra Washington
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech may be one of the best known moments in American history, but if current rhetoric in Alabama politics take hold, then some may think he dreamed of slot machines and gambling halls.
After all, it is that historic dramatic shift toward absolute equal rights for all that is being used to delve up emotional memories and relate them to the current slot machine gambling debate in the state.
Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, sponsor of Senate Bill 380, said, “There is a race issue. … The majority of the people losing their jobs are African-Americans.”
The same thing happened in the civil rights era, he said. “People were fighting for their jobs (then).”
“I’m declaring war on the governor to protect my people from the ills of unemployment,” Singleton said. “If they have a better alternative, bring me a company, and we will help them set it up.”
Singleton’s district includes one of the four race tracks in the state, Greenetrack.
On the east side of the state sits another race track, VictoryLand, in Macon County. Both counties are considered among the poorer counties in the state, and both happen to be predominantly black.
Macon County Commission Chair Louis Maxwell said without a doubt the recent attempted raid on VictoryLand by the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling is similar to what took place during the 1960s.
Johnny Ford, former mayor of Tuskegee, said, “It reminds us of the storm-trooping days of the civil rights era. … Their strategy is to keep us from voting.”
But John Tyson, commander of the task force, disagreed.
“This is not the ’60s. This is far from it,” he said. “I doubt this is what Dr. Martin Luther King had on his mind when putting his life on the line for equal rights in America.”
Pointing out that this is about the rule of law, Tyson said, “The rule of law is more important than the single issue of gambling.
“The very reason that black citizens are included in our society is the rule of law.
“The history of Alabama and a huge part of this country and the deep South is that black folks were excluded from participating in things like our government or sitting at the counter at a drug store, for instance,” he said.
“What happened during the ’60s is that this country was able to change the law. The rule of law, after all, keeps us all equal. We are equal in the eyes of the law.
“Without the rule of law, what does the Civil Rights Act mean? What does the Voting Rights Act mean? What do the criminal laws of Alabama mean?
“What does it mean if in our rush to casino money, we sacrifice the rule of law in the process?” Tyson asked.
Ford said he is prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure “my people have the opportunity to vote.”
That may mean marching or leading rallies or taking legal action, he said, noting he plans to file a lawsuit over the matter with the U.S. Supreme Court.
He explained he sponsored the original legislation in 2003 that allowed for a constitutional amendment to be voted on by the people to legalize “bingo.”
“I am the representative who wrote and originated House Bill (HB) 660, the bill that actually brought electronic bingo to Alabama,” said Ford, who served as a state representative from 1999 to 2004.
His intentions at the time were to legalize bingo, no matter how it was played, he said. He was introduced to a machine that would “play bingo” and could be brought into Macon County with the passage of the constitutional amendment.
The senior citizens wanted traditional paper bingo and VictoryLand was failing financially, so Ford found a way to take care of both.
“This is a county that is majority African-American,” he said. “Civil rights gave us the right to vote, and we voted for VictoryLand. … This (recent action by the task force) is a violation of our civil rights.”
But the task force is shutting down all slot machine operations across the state, no matter where they exist.
When asked how the civil rights argument plays out in the predominantly white Houston County, where the state’s newest slot machine operation Country Crossing is located, Ford said he could only comment on Macon County.
But Singleton said, “Just like the civil rights movement, there were people of Caucasian descent who helped us out.”
And then there is an entirely different level to the argument of “the right to vote.” What about the areas of the state that also want gambling but are excluded from the current legislation calling for a constitutional amendment legalizing slot machines in 10 areas in the state?
The legislation (Senate Bill 380 and HB 507) would exclude the majority of counties that also have constitutional amendments legalizing traditional paper bingo. These amendments are being used as the launching pad for legalizing slot machines, being labeled electronic bingo gambling.
Rep. Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery, said he had no problem with legislation legalizing slot machines in the state, but “there is one issue I have a problem with — we (Montgomery County) have an amendment similar to Houston County.”
“This directly contradicts the opportunity and rights of my own county,” he said during the public hearing of HB 154, a bill that would legalize and protect existing casinos in Alabama until the constitutional amendment legalizing them could be voted on in November.
“Why compromise Montgomery County’s rights?”
Bessemer Mayor Edward May said, “For those of us who really participated in the civil rights activities, we should be offended. … It offends me that these folks who operate out of greed would invoke anything that has to do with the civil rights era.
“This is about greed and money,” he said. “This is not something to cause harm to someone because they are African-American.
“This is the most divisive issue since the civil rights movement. But is it an issue of race? No, it’s not,” May said.
“It has nothing to do with race. It has to do with dollars.”
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