Earlier this week, Alabama Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Doug Jones addressed a crowd gathered at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Daphne, AL to make a pitch for his candidacy.
During his speech, which was captured on video and posted to YouTube, Jones stressed the importance of his successful prosecution of those behind the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham in the late 1990s as a U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration.
While explaining the importance of that outcome, Jones said there had been times when he was hesitant to say he was from the state of Alabama when asked where he was from.
“In doing that case – in doing that and seeing the reaction when I speak all over the country where I talk about what it meant to the city of Birmingham and what it meant to the state – that has been as almost important to me on a personal level because I was finally able to get around, and you guys are going to know what I’m talking about. When you go outside Alabama, and you travel around the country – people say, ‘Where are you from?’ Let’s be honest – unless you’re talking about college football, there’s a little hesitancy, there’s a little hesitancy to say, ‘I’m from Alabama.’”
“That shouldn’t be,” he continued. “That should not be. We are a wonderful people. We are a loving and caring people. But we have been defined by people in our past who were haters and dividers and people who pitted one against the other. We will change that.”
Jones faces former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in a special election on December 12 to determine who will fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Jeff Sessions.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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