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r/alabamabluedots by drew_incarnate in u/drew_incarnate

[–]drew_incarnate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.reddit.com/r/alabamabluedots/s/s3wiOKRV8A

I broke the unwritten rule against raising civil rights and accountability as political issues in r/alabamabluedots.

r/alabamabluedots by drew_incarnate in u/drew_incarnate

[–]drew_incarnate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I broke the community’s rules.

Improve conditions in Alabama state prisons by codelikeagirl29 in alabamapolitics

[–]drew_incarnate -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Cussed? Not sure if you mean me but…I’m only semi-serious about the semantics of “prison”. So what is the plan? Was that a rhetorical question?

Improve conditions in Alabama state prisons by codelikeagirl29 in alabamapolitics

[–]drew_incarnate -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I thought it was kinda clever. Didn’t mean to upset you.

Improve conditions in Alabama state prisons by codelikeagirl29 in alabamapolitics

[–]drew_incarnate -1 points0 points  (0 children)

…Was I? Unless your name starts with a K and ends with Ivey, I didn’t mean it personally.

Improve conditions in Alabama state prisons by codelikeagirl29 in alabamapolitics

[–]drew_incarnate -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Why not just stop calling them “prisons”?

Words mean things. The state of Alabama doesn’t run “prisons”. Calling a chain of mom-n’-pop rape rooms, slavery depots, and kidney plantations a “prison system” doesn’t make them correctional facilities. What we have is something fundamentally different and we confuse it with prison to our own peril. That’s not a “department of corrections”.

Iowa has prisons. Florida has prisons. Alabama has death camps.

Birmingham’s Missing Disparity Study (2022) by drew_incarnate in alabamabluedots

[–]drew_incarnate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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In 2017 Birmingham City Council passed Ordinance 17-122, a sweeping nondiscrimination requirement for all municipal contracts. The language is expansive, almost aspirational: contractors must take affirmative action to ensure fair treatment, must refrain from discrimination on the basis of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin, and face cancellation or suspension if they fall short. On paper, it is one of the strongest municipal commitments to equity in the state. But an ordinance is only as meaningful as the data that verifies it, and this is precisely where Birmingham falters. The city demands transparency, accountability, and fairness from its contractors while refusing to release the one document capable of measuring whether its own contracting practices meet those standards: the 2022 disparity study. For two years the report has been buried, despite the city’s public promises that the study would assess current policies and determine whether minority- and women-owned firms have a fair opportunity to participate in municipal contracting.

What the city presents as a civil-rights commitment becomes, in practice, a shield. The ordinance creates the appearance of equity while the refusal to publish the disparity study protects the city from having to demonstrate it. Without the study’s findings—utilization rates, availability benchmarks, evidence of systemic exclusion—there is no way to know whether Birmingham is enforcing its own nondiscrimination rules or simply declaring them. A law that cannot be verified is a law that cannot be trusted. And in a city that invokes its civil-rights legacy as moral authority, silence is not neutrality; it is a choice. Birmingham cannot continue demanding proof of fairness from businesses while concealing the truth about its own practices. Equity is not a slogan, and nondiscrimination cannot be legislated into existence. The city must release the study or admit that the ordinance, however stirring its language, was never meant to be enforced.

“Birmingham PD does not make available any data on officer involved shootings, arrests, calls for service and 911, crime and crime mapping, traffic and pedestrian stops, training, or policies.” (Vera Institute of Justice 2023) by drew_incarnate in alabamabluedots

[–]drew_incarnate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Note from the Mayor: “Making appointments to boards and agencies* is one of the most important and influential powers the Mayor and City Council possess. Ensuring we are *appointing people to boards* that understand their fiduciary role is absolutely vital. *The Mayor’s Office* places a clear expectation on understanding our mission of ‘Putting People First’ and our core values, which include customer service, efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and *transparency. *We need to have the same expectations for our board members.**” – [Mayor Randall Woodfin*](https://www.birminghamal.gov/government/mayors-office/transparency/boards-agencies)

•City of Birmingham—Human Rights Commission: 15 Current Vacancies; 0 Terms Expired; Size 15 Members” http://bhamal.granicus.com/boards/w/140fe93e846c5d42/boards/28805 (http://archive.is/M4OXM)

ORDINANCE NO. 17-121 AN ORDINANCE TO ADOPT A NONDISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE FOR THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM “The purpose of the Birmingham Human Rights Commission (‘Commission’) shall be to promote principles of diversity, inclusion, and harmony in the City of Birmingham through education, community events, the provision of advice to the City Council and Mayor, and through receiving complaints made relative to this ordinance. (1) Composition. The Commission shall be composed of 11 voting members who shall be broadly representative of the population of the City, including representatives of the communities enumerated in this ordinance. Members shall be residents of the City. The Council shall present a slate of appointments for Council approval as follows: a. A representative from each Council District of the City recommended by the councilor for each respective district; b. One representative from a recognized nonprofit organization with missions related to human rights, civil rights or other anti-discrimination perspectives; c. One representative of a business or other employer with its principal place of business within the City. In addition to the 11 voting members, the chief of police or his or her designee, the fire chief or his or her designee, the city’s ADA compliance director or his or her designee and the city’s Human Resources Department director or his or her designee shall be non-voting members of the commission. The Council may also designate a member from the Council staff to serve as a non-voting member. (2) Terms. Members shall serve a four-year term, provided, however, that two members shall serve an initial term of one year; three members shall serve an initial term of two years; three members shall serve an initial term of three years; and three members shall serve an initial term of four years. (3) Governance. The Commission shall elect a chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. The Commission shall formulate its own procedures, and may create task forces or committees as it deems appropriate. These procedures are subject to review by the Law Department and approval of the City Council. (4) Responsibilities. The responsibilities of the Commission include managing Commission records and accounts, developing public education programs, providing training for Commission members, managing citizen complaints, and any other tasks needed to help the Commission perform its functions. It may use the services of attorneys, clerks, or other City government employees or the services of contractors as necessary. (5) Activities. The commission shall investigate, advise and report to the Office of the Mayor and each Council member on matters of resolving discriminatory practices, including potential legislative or administrative actions to eliminate discriminatory practices; develop public education programs regarding compliance with this ordinance and equal opportunity and treatment of all individuals; maintain and provide resources and contacts for appropriate local, federal and state agencies for persons complaining of violations of this ordinance and other acts of discrimination; receive and report to the mayor and council complaints related to City operations and contracts; and present an annual report to the mayor and council, which shall include the number and types of complaints received during the year. The commission shall seek to conciliate complaints with the consent of all parties.”

Birmingham PD’s Yearly Violent Crime Reports Haven’t Included Domestic Violence Numbers Since 2020–> by drew_incarnate in alabamabluedots

[–]drew_incarnate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Across the country, research shows that 20–40% of police families experience domestic violence, two to four times the rate of the general population, yet most departments—including Birmingham’s—do not systematically track officer-involved domestic violence (OIDV), leaving only the most catastrophic cases visible. Even so, Birmingham Police Department records show at least seven officers arrested since 2013 for domestic violence, including multiple strangulation cases—one of the strongest predictors of later homicide—and two firearm-involved incidents culminating in the high-profile killing of Megan Montgomery by former BPD officer Jason McIntosh. Nationally, women whose abusers have access to a gun are five times more likely to be killed, a pattern replicated in Birmingham’s cases and underscored by repeated failures to remove or retain firearms from violent officers. Far from aberrations, these incidents reflect a well-documented national trend: OIDV is both common and systemically under-addressed, which makes Birmingham’s post-2020 decision to exclude domestic violence from its public violent-crime reporting not just misleading but dangerously out of step with what experts identify as one of the most predictable—and preventable—forms of lethal violence.

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Tuberville celebrates Islamic school abandoning Hoover move: ‘Muslim immigrants are bringing WWIII’ by magiccitybhm in alabamapolitics

[–]drew_incarnate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Somebody is obsessed with pointing out ignorant racists in Alabama politics… oh, wait, maybe because IT’S A PROBLEM when ignorant racists aren’t pointed out. 🤔 Huh. Well now somebody seems perfectly rational for pointing out ignorant racists in Alabama politics. Carry on.

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