Roy S. Johnson: I wish Tuberville, Britt knew what crime, woke are; and what they’re not

This is an opinion column.

I wish crime had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish evil had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish ignorance had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish fear had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish racism had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish disrespect had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish incivility had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t

I wish hatred had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish hopelessness had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish injustice had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish hunger had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish negativity had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish intolerance had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish greed had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish pessimism had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish depression had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish egotism had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish poverty had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish narcissism had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish unforgiveness had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish lying had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish shamefulness—shamefulness so egregious to make our ancestors cry. I wish it had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish condescension had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

I wish sexual predators, rapists, or perpetrators of sexual violence of any nature. I wish they had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

They don’t.

I’m not naïve. I know what season it is. It’s silly season. Sad season, really—the last days (Biblically, it’s easy to believe) before elections across the nation. We call them mid-terms, referencing the delicate balance of power at stake in Congress. Though many voters (those who won’t succumb to an apathy that will, unfortunately, keep too many at home) will elect school board members, judges, sheriffs, and other local officials who arguably have more influence over voters’ lives than many of those we export to Washington, D.C.

It’s the season when one of our two U.S. Senators stands proudly and blames crime on a color. On a political party. On area codes or zip codes—when it is not confined to any of those boundaries. When he stokes panic without proposals—provokes agitation void of answers. Then cowers for eight days in a dark cave of silence.

I wish ignorance had a …. Oh, never mind, already duly noted.

I’m hopeful about Katie Britt, should she become the first woman to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate. Or I’m trying to be. Hopeful she will see what ails our neighborhoods, our cities, our counties, our state, and nation (See: above) for what they are (challenges too long overlooked that must be addressed, not used as silly season campaign spittle) rather than what they’re not (someone else’s fault).

Yet ‘tis the season, sadly. While discussing education and other topics this week on a national network, she said: “We want [children] to be taught the fundamentals. We want them to be taught to love this nation, to stand for the flag, be taught history, be taught math, be taught reading…”

I so wish she’d stopped right there; I really do. We might quibble over a word, phrase, or such, but, fundamentally, we both want Alabama children to be taught what they clearly have not been taught for too many generations—a lack that leaves our state perennially languishing at the bottom of the knowledge pool. Dying down there.

But she did not stop, instead adding this” “… not to be indoctrinated with woke ideology.”

I wish woke had a color. Or a political party. An area code or zip code.

It doesn’t.

Woke is alert, as one dictionary defines it. Aware, another reads. Aware and actively attentive to important facts and issues, it continues. Especially, the latter concludes, issues of racial and social justice.

Our children should be taught to be alert and aware.

Alert and aware of what we’ve too long ignored.

As should we all—especially our leaders. Alert and aware enough to reach beyond color, political party, area, and zip codes to pursue solutions instead of being slavish to silly. Of pushing partisan petty.

Alert and aware of what ails our neighborhoods, our cities, our counties, our state, and our nation.

Alert and aware of what they are.

And what they’re not.

May we all be so woke.

More columns by Roy S. Johnson

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Former Auburn star on Tuberville ‘reparation’ remarks: ‘Unnecessary, wrong, ugly’

Alabama’s SCOTUS lawyer gets critical race history lesson from Ketanji Brown Jackson

Alabamians are struggling to eat; state officials must ensure all are fed.

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Roy S. Johnson is a 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary and winner of 2021 Edward R. Murrow prize for podcasts: “Unjustifiable”, co-hosted with John Archibald. His column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Press-Register. Reach him at [email protected], follow him at twitter.com/roysj, or on Instagram @roysj.