Rep. Alvin Holmes (D) of Alabama has found himself in some hot water after making inflammatory comments regarding white parents adopting black children.
Holmes was in the middle of a debate over an abortion bill and insisted to anti-abortion lawmakers that 99% of legislators would force their daughters to abort the baby if she was impregnated by a black man. He went on to say:
“I will bring you $100,000 cash tomorrow if you show me a whole bunch of whites that adopted blacks in Alabama,” he said then. “I will go down there and mortgage my house and get it cash in $20 bills and bring it to you in a little briefcase.”
Naturally, this angered white parents in Alabama who have adopted black children. They staged a protest at the capital demanding the Holmes apologize and honor his bet.
Beverly and Jeromy Owings of Wetumpka, AL started the Faces of Families in Alabama Facebook page to gather support as a result of Holmes’ comments. They are the parents of a 13-year old adopted biracial daughter who was very upset by Holmes’ comments.
Beverly told ABC News, ”I would like for him to ‘man up.’ He’s made the statement. He needs to put his money where is mouth is.”
Her husband continued, “After we work on it [breaking down the racial barrier] and work on it to have an elected official that can come in and make those comments and tear down everything that we’ve worked hard for. It puts a question in their minds of ‘Do I belong?’ ‘Where do I belong?”
To give this some historical context, Holmes was first elected to state legislature in 1974, when George Wallace was still governor.
For those who don’t know, Wallace is infamous for a statement he made just 11 years prior to Holmes’ election: “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
Holmes was also responsible for introducing the bill to repeal the ban on interracial marriage in Alabama. The law, though it was no longer enforced, was still on the books in 1999, and Holmes began the movement to remove it. He cited information gleaned from that movement to support his statements about adoption, recalling that his bill passed by only 59 percent. ”The majority of white people in the state of Alabama are against adopting black children and the majority of white people in the state of Alabama are against their daughters having babies by black men and I stand by that comment,” he says.
However, none of this excuses Holmes’ comments. I understand that Holmes lived through a ridiculously prejudiced time in our nation’s history and the pain from that probably resonates with him today. And I’m not even going to deny that there is probably some truth to what Holmes said. However, to insist on something based on speculation is irresponsible. As an elected official, he has to be able to separate his bias from his ability to serve. His comments were insulting to families with adopted children and biracial families alike. He needs to apologize for his remarks if for no other reason than that the people he has been tasked to serve do not feel that he has accurately represented them or their interests.