By Roy S. Johnson | rjohnson@al.com
This is an opinion column.
Enemy. It’s an interesting word.
My pastor consistently says, “There’s no wasted ink in the Bible,” that every word means exactly what it’s supposed to mean — linguistic interpretations, different versions and all.
There’s no wasted ink in Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s social media rants, either. No wasted words. He means exactly what he posts and says: Enemy.
Tuberville, a Republican, used that word again recently. He’s used it many times, or variations of it. At Auburn, the football coach probably used it during numerous pep talks, referring to the upcoming opponent. The enemy.
Now, he appears to see the enemy as anyone who does not look like him, doesn’t believe what he believes, or who’s not living fat on more than $7 million in contract buyouts — $5.1 million from Auburn, and $2 million from Cincinnati.
He must believe teachers toiling in many of our state’s most difficult schools are the enemy. “I don’t know how they got degrees,” he once said. “I don’t know whether they can read or write.”
He’s long believed immigrants without government papers are the enemy, even if they’re pouring taxes into government coffers. He’s claimed many are “murderers, rapists, terrorists, you name it.” Unfortunately, so are many U.S. citizens.
Last year, Tuberville introduced a bill requiring Uber drivers to be fluent in English, and he wants foreign students out of American colleges, even though their tuition often subsidizes the cost of school for American students.
Muslims hold a special place on his enemy list. Especially New York’s Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
After Mamdani was elected last fall, Tuberville spewed, “We lost New York.” Within a single election cycle, he claimed, everyone in the city of 8.5 million people will have either converted moved away.
Last week, Tuberville made it undeniably clear that he considers Mamdani the enemy. He reposted a tweet in which a photo of Mamdani was shown next to an image of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
The original post read, “Less than 25 years apart.”
Tuberville added: “The enemy is inside the gates.”
The enemy.
That was no accident. It was as intentional as Tuberville’s repeated disparaging of the Muslim faith, which he often calls “radical.” As he did during a near-12-minute speech in January on the Senate floor, standing next to two large photos: one of the burning Twin Towers, the other of the rebuilt World Trade Center.
I’ll wager the senator doesn’t know what “radical” actually means.
Oxford calls it: “advocating or based on thorough or complete political or social change” or “a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform.”
Sounds like the founding fathers were radical as hell.
Not only does Tuberville believe the duly elected mayor of the nation’s largest city is the enemy, he thinks many members of Mamdani’s faith are, too. In a tweet barking back at criticisms of his post on the mayor, he said: “To be clear, I didn’t ‘suggest’ Islamists are the enemy. I said it plainly.”
Of course, Republicans were mute on Tuberville’s insipid attack. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, called Tuberville’s tweet “mindless hate” and rightly said Muslim-Americans are certainly inside the gates as our neighbors and working alongside us in almost every vocation.
“Muslim Americans are cops, doctors, nurses, teachers, bankers, bricklayers, mothers, fathers, neighbors, mayors, and more,” Schumer said. “Islamophobic hate like this is fundamentally un-American and we must confront and overcome it whenever it rears its ugly head.”
It’s also a fundamental virus among Republicans. Days before Tuberville’s tweet, Tennessee Rep. Any Ogles declared Muslims “don’t belong in American society.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York responded on X: “Disgusting Islamophobes like you do not belong in Congress or in civilized society.”
Last month, Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine compared Muslims with dogs: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Approximately 24,000 Muslims live in Alabama, according to the World Population Review. And Alabamians are not immune to this anti-Islamic virus.
In December, emotions ran high in Hoover before the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission rejected a plan to allow a Muslim school and community center to move to the city from Homewood.
Residents held up signs referring to a northern city where members of its large Muslim population and Arab-American-majority have been elected to leadership positions. “Give an inch – Dearborn Michigan,” read a sign.
“Stop the 100 year plan,” said another, not-so-subtly hinting at a conspiracy theory that Muslims are plotting to take over American institutions.
Ironically, Hoover Crescent, the largest mosque in the Birmingham area, sits in Hoover. People from around the world find “unity” there, one worshipper recently told AL.com’s Will McLelland.
“That’s the whole intention of having a place of worship — people can come and connect because you’re from the same faith,” said Shahnawaz Mohammed Ameer.
Tuberville leaned in further with his bigotry, called Muslims a cult. “In every state, they’re building Mosques, they’re having these five prayers a day,” he said. “They’re pushing this cult on everybody across this country.”
Stacy Abdein, the school’s assistant principal, termed the remarks “irresponsible fabrications that fuel fear, prejudice and division.”
Maybe Tuberville hasn’t gotten the memo: We’re weary of the incessant attacks. We’re weary of elected officials disparaging each other over political disagreements.