By Dr. Bailey Thomson
Associate professor, Journalism, University of Alabama

   President Harry Truman was famous for "Give ‘em Hell" speeches, particularly in 1948 when he pulled off the nation’s greatest political upset.

   "I never give them hell," Truman once explained. "I just tell the truth, and they think it’s hell."

   Well, advocates for a new Alabama constitution are telling the truth, and as a result this movement is gaining public support. The Mobile Register, for example, reported recently that 57 percent of respondents in its poll want a new constitution. Another poll conducted by the Alabama Education Association showed an even larger percentage in favor.

   And in both polls, a majority said they wanted a convention to write a new constitution, rather than leave that job with the Legislature.

   I believe the hour is approaching when we Alabamians will fulfill the sacred compact that one generation makes with the next to leave a better place for posterity. For we know our state is remarkably rich in resources and potential. There is simply no good reason why we cannot do better — if only we will discover the political courage to do so.

   Throughout much of our history, we Alabamians have not shown much aptitude or desire for good government. Our people have tolerated an infamously bad constitution, which sought in 1901 to enshrine special privileges and to deny the right of voting to black citizens and many poor whites as well.

   As a result of our history, Alabamians suffer from a deficiency of democracy, which can be traced directly to our immoral constitution. This deficiency is a Scarlet Letter our state must wear among even our Southern neighbors, many of whom have surpassed us in designing modern, responsive governments.

   Our history demonstrates how Alabamians have failed to love justice. The state’s constitution has not spread tax burdens equitably among rich and poor. Instead, it allows an unfair share to fall upon those who are least able to pay.

   Meanwhile, our judicial system forces even court candidates to beg money from the very people who later will plead their cases before the victors. Justice wears a blindfold in Alabama because she cannot bear to see how we have prostituted her good name for the sake of political expediency.

   Our history further reveals an exploitation of the land and other natural resources with little thought of conserving this great birthright. Today, this shameful legacy continues in unsightly urban sprawl and the ruination of the landscape. Yet our county governments have virtually no more authority to wisely regulate the use of land today than they had in 1901.

   Alabamians have been equally callous in neglecting human resources. The 1901 constitution had no faith in ordinary citizens; so it condemned generations to impoverished schools that were racially separate but never equal to those of our northern states. Even today, as Alabamians declare education to be their No. 1 priority, many of our children attend school in rotting building or dilapidated trailers.

   From such examples, one quickly concludes that the government Alabamians have tolerated since 1901 is unworthy of this great land we call our sweet home. We have shamed ourselves and imperiled our children’s future by squandering our civic potential.

   Critics have appeared, beginning with Gov. emmet O’Neal in 1915, to denounce this immoral system and to demand a new state constitution. They pointed to what we could be in Alabama if only we had the courage to topple the false idols of complacency, privilege and prejudice.

   Therefore, in the spirit of those who have labored so diligently in the civic vineyards, let us unite and pledge ourselves to achieve a new state constitution and a renewed democracy for Alabama. No more will we surrender our state to the special interests that have propped up the tottering old system with their sacks of money and selfish influence.

   No more will we stand idly by, refusing to help those who are oppressed by our malignant tax system.

   And no more will we pine away in dark corners, longing for a political messiah to deliver us.

   We will organize instead as rejuvenated citizens ready to deliver ourselves from the sins of the past and to proclaim that Alabama stands at the threshold of civic renewal. We will demand a new state constitution. And we will not rest until justice, decency and efficiency rule.

   The naysayers, cynics and manipulators would have us believe we cannot achieve such great things in Alabama. One can hear the laughter of ridicule all the way from Montgomery, where the great special interests lay permanent siege to our state government.

   But I believe our people can achieve greatness if they are given a noble alternative. Many Alabamians desire a genuine civic life — one that transcends the mere business of government allows them to be useful, productive citizens. Rather than continue to divide ourselves along the fault lines of race and class, we can seek common space where we may pursue solutions together.

   Allow me, therefore, to share with you briefly how we can fortify our democracy and carry this movement, to every corner of Alabama and even here to Montgomery, the seat of centralized power. The goal is to help amplify what is already a rising chorus for positive change.

   To help achieve this purpose, organizers of a rally in April sponsored by the Chamber in Tuscaloosa have created a public foundation that will fight to make constitutional reform the No. 1 issue in Alabama.

   Political scientists have bemoaned the lack of such public interest groups in our state. Instead, there is a plethora of special interests, which often push their agendas above the needs of citizens. In 1998, these interests gave more than $13 million to legislative candidates.

   The hope is that this new foundation — this new public interest group­will help ignite a grass roots movement. It will help unite our citizens behind building a better Alabama.

   The first board members of this nonpartisan foundation are gifted Alabamians who already have proven their commitment to reform. Their chairman is Dr. Thomas Corts, president of Samford University. This new group’s board will double in size as more good leaders come forward to serve from every corner of our state. They will seek to attract thousands of Alabamians as sustaining members of the organization, ready to perform their citizen’s role.

   We know the road ahead will be hard. Opponents will throw up many obstacles to impede our progress. But what great movement ever began with guaranteed success?

   Here in Alabama, it is time we realized our political system, with a rotten constitution at its core, will never produce the fundamental changes we need. Instead, we must create a new system, one that draws its strength and vision from a galvanized citizenship.

   Long ago, the Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci observed how the great undertakings and actions of this world often have origins "so small and faint in outline" that it is difficult to imagine how out of them grew "matters of great moment." I believe that one day historians will look upon our movement here in Alabama and marvel that so great a good came from such a modest beginning.

   Many of our fellow Alabamians cry out for a civic vision. Amid the howling wilderness of our politics, they deserve a firm new foundation that rises not from the shifting sands of special interests but rather from the rock of citizenship.

   Upon this foundation we can erect a new state constitution — one that will serve all the people of our beloved state and generations to come. We do not have another hundred years to wait for our deliverance. We must be bold in achieving our goals now.

   Our reform movement draws a page from Harry Truman’s famous plain talk. The strategy is to continue telling the truth to our fellow Alabamians about our shameful state constitution. For it is the truth that will set us free at last from this monstrosity and show us the way to a promising new century.

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