Paying The Population Piper

 

     New Census numbers show Alabama's population decline is continuing.

     Washington Post diagrams trace the changes in state populations over the past century, starting in 1920 (when Alabama ranked 18th) till 2020, by which time the state had fallen to 24th. The paper reports:

 

"Over the past century, Florida has gone from the least to most populous state in the region, rising from 33rd largest a century ago to the third largest today.

Starting in the 1920s the state benefited from what Gregory calls “the pursuit of the lifestyle,” as northerners and immigrants sought more temperate weather and economic opportunities.

At the same time, racial segregation and discrimination spurred more than 6 million Black Americans to leave the Southeast. Alabama and Mississippi are among the states that have repeatedly fallen back in the rankings."

 

     I've referred to that population loss as the state paying the "Wallace Tax". 

    That former Governor's vicious antics in the 50's and 60's paved the way for the decline that continues today...helped along by insistent policies protecting old-time racism, like Kay Ivey's confederate protection law.