Alabama Loves Socialists

When I think of Alabama I think of conservative, God fearing Republicans who shudder at any liberal leanings. Healthcare reform? Heck no bubba that's Socialism.

Turns out though that Alabama has a love affair with Socialists. Or at least a love affair with one Socialist in particular.

Helen Keller.

In 2003, Alabama honored Keller by putting her on their version of the state quarter. And just recently a statue of Keller was placed in the U.S. Capital to represent Alabama.

A lot of us learn about Helen Keller as youngsters, but the history of her life fed to us is watered down and doesn't really give us a true picture of who this person was. Instead it is presented to us as a way of trying to convince us that "Hey you've got ears and eyes that work, so if Helen Keller can learn and go to college so can you." She is presented as one of these true American success stories who overcome great obstacles to do good for others.

The conditions and lives of deaf and blind people all over the world are certainly enriched by the life and work of Helen Keller. However, these let's-pat-ourselves-on-the-back tellings of her life leave out large chunks of what she was all about.

I wonder how many of the people you might pass in a mall or on the street somewhere would know that Keller was helped create the American Civil Liberties Union? Yes that organization that is much loathed by those on the right for all of their controversial work.

Or how about this. Helen Keller was a Socialist. Seriously. Not a Democrat who gets called a Socialist for wanting healthcare reform but a for real member of the Socialist Party in the who pushed for the election of Eugene Debs every time he ran for President of the United States as a Socialist candidate. She later joined the IWW when she felt the Socalist Party was "too slow" and unable to keep its "revolutionary character". You can read her own words regarding this topic in How I Became A Socialist and Why I Became an IWW.

Not only this, but she was also down with Women's Suffrage and birth control two items I'm sure were quite controversial during her time.

Most of the blurbs I read here and there and heard in passing never mentioned much beyond the disabilities she over came. However, I must give some props to Fox News on this one. Which isn't something you'll hear me do often. Read CNN's article here.

"She traveled the world as an adult, wrote 12 books and championed causes including women's suffrage and workers' rights."

That is about as controversial as CNN got. However click here to read an article from Fox about the statue unveiling.

"In addition to advocating for people with disabilities, she was a suffragette, a pacifist, a radical socialist, a birth control supporter and in 1920, she helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.)"

The point of this is not to bash the fine people of Alabama or to push for or against the politics of Helen Keller (a good bit of which I do in fact agree with), but instead to point out how watered down our history is. If you are going to hold up a citizen as a representation of what makes your state or your country great include all of their history. Just the disabilities overcome make Keller a great American, but why the fact that she was a Socialist or any other so-called controversial political activities detract from that?