According to a report issued last week by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, blacks and whites agree on most Alabama priorities with public education being most notable.
“Alabama Priorities,” as it is named by PARCA, stated that most of the people in Alabama had similar concerns in previous surveys.
The report also revealed that Alabamians were not selecting their priorities based on political alliances, ideology, or racial differences.
While there were many shocking finds within the new report, one thing that perhaps stood out the most was that nine of the top ten priorities for African-American voters were the same as that of white voters.
While there were many agreements on what Alabama deserves most, there were also differences. Higher education, which was the fifth highest priority for black voters, didn’t rank in the top ten for white voters.
While white voters ranked improving the state’s image as their tenth priority, it was not included on the list from black voters.
Included among the top ten priorities were healthcare, poverty and homelessness, crime and public safety, and tax reform.
The PARCA report was compiled of two different surveys. PARCA and Samford University partnered to conduct surveys that received 150 responses. The second survey was conducted through a partnership of PARCA and the University of South Alabama where surveyors took part in 468 interviews.
Alabama must capitalize on this opportunity. This is the perfect time for Alabama to come together as one and serve all communities by focusing on the issues that mean most to almost all of the people in Alabama.
For too long, our country has been divided because of political and personal differences. Race relations in the south have not always been the best, but now the opportunity to unite as one lies in the near future.
Alabama’s elected officials must focus on what means most to the people in this state. These are issues that we ALL can agree on. Alabama ranks 47th in education among other states. That’s terrible. It is time to focus on educating the children of Alabama and ensure that they lead this country to success.
Health and substance abuse also ranked among the top 10 priorities for Alabama voters and I can understand why. Substance abuse is very common in Alabama and that’s something we need to work on correcting. Too many families are being torn about due to the lack of awareness and understanding of what certain substances can do to an individual’s life.
For once, I can say that I am happy to see that Alabama voters, whether white or black, or Republican or Democrat, share similar ideology when it comes to deciding what issues need the most attention in our state.
With the right leadership, changes can occur. Let’s get this fixed so that next year we can produce an extremely different set of top ten priorities.
@RealKyleMorris is a Yellowhammer News contributor
