Birmingham City Councilwoman Sheila Tyson – who once labeled the city's refusal to pay for her junket to Alaska as "apartheid" – on Tuesday went one further.

In discussing a proposal for the city to chip in on a privately funded Holocaust memorial downtown, she said this:

"Dead is dead."

About the Holocaust.

"Isn't it still for dead people," Tyson said. "It is for dead people. Aren't the people they are memorializing deceased?"

Tyson was ticked because she had previously wanted to give city money to Shadow Lawn Cemetery, an old African-American cemetery that had fallen into disrepair. If it can give to a Holocaust memorial, why not Shadow Lawn?

"What's the difference?" she demanded. "Aren't the people they are memorializing deceased?"

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/06/alabama_city_councilwoman_on_h.html

(Searched for Alabama, Birmingham, and Holocaust and didn't see a dupe.  I'd bet the bot known as Medicfrost beat me to this though).

Is this fine outstanding pillar in the community possibly a muslim or democrat

Well isn't she special.

She can't even speak properly and she is In charge of local government...

for those too lazy to click on the link, there are some gems in there:

The city councilwoman thinks a cemetery in Birgminham is a "tourist attraction" because Michelle Obama's great-great grandfather is buried there.  

There is this part too

LOL

 

In her view holocaust victims are "haves."

Most of the people in charge of our local government are quasi-literate clowns.

Why post a picture?  We all knew.

Most of the big AL city elected officials are entertaining.

She needs a good taco punt.

she needs an unmarked hole in the ground.

Props for the news quoting her speak, verbatim.


I would assume that if a slavery museum was defunded she would bitch.

I mean if dead Is dead.

some should suggest they defund anything related to MLK - after all, dead is dead...

The 'ham is the Detroit of the South.

There is only one color in the Tragic City.

Most of us didn't know that she is as butt-ugly as she is.  Good gosh, what an ugly specimen.

Of the People, By the People, For the People.

The People are fucking stoopid..

A.W.D.

Isn't this the part of the country that wanted to break off and become another Haiti?  Or was that Huntsville?

Are all the streetlights still off in BHam due to the city being broke?

I doubt it was Huntsville

I am sure she meant "haves" in the context of have been victims of genocide

meh

why should we have memorials to the holocaust in the USA last time i checked that shit didn't happen here.

It's an absurd waste of $45k of taxpayers money.

If you meet a lot of local government officials, you will find that many of them are dingbats and basically low grade human driftwood that sort of washed up on the beach.

Some of these people have multiple government jobs, they are council members, freeholders, etc

when they retire, they collect a nice pension from many of these positions.

it's basically a big useless scam, just like 90% of what the government does.

how is the local city council going to pour your money out on the ground if they don't buy useless shit with it?

you know what they really need?  a bathroom with a shower in their office, built by their bother-in-law for $90,000

that is crucial to proper function of city government.

what if they get all sweaty?


I don't know about you, but when I visit any city in Alabama, the first thing I want to see is a memorial to the Armenian Massacre.

Or as an alternative, a memorial to the Black Plague that decimated medieval Europe.

Kinda this....and as much as am loath to kind of agree with her, and saying up front I have no idea of the details about the stories....I can see a point...if the council won't approve some funds to take care of an actual piece of history in the city itself, why does it want to use taxpayer funds to fund a Holocaust Memorial....its not like there aren't any Holocaust Memorials anywhere else in the US...just on the face of it....there could be a lot of details I don't have the time to track down...

This I agree with 100%, a fair amount of these people are truly dregs that somehow got lucky, and milk it as long as they can...local gov tends to have some real tards...

There is a little more to it I think.  

Bham had a large Jewish population and the Jews still in the area are very influential.  That community is trying to draw more Jews to Bham.  A Holocaust Memorial probably has something to do with that.  The Bham Jewish community has said that the only part the city would have to pay is the ~$45K of the $500K total for the memorial.  The proposed memorial is downtown, so I wonder how much of the ~$45K is just getting the city to waive construction permit fees, waive any fees for road closures, etc... while the structures are being removed.  

That being said, unless there is some deep tie to the Holocaust Bham has that I am unaware of, the city shouldn't have to come out of pocket for this project.  I would have no issue with the city waiving and expediting permits for this project.

The cemetery Councilwoman Tyson was comparing the Holocaust memorial to is in her district.  It had filed for bankruptcy and was closed for five years until a non-profit bought the property.  There are some historical figures buried in the cemetery but is no where near the "tourist attraction" she claims it would be.  Michelle Obama's great-great Grandfather is buried there, Big Chief Ellis, is buried there, a Medal of Honor recipient is buried there, and Buddy Lewis is buried there.   Oak Hill Cemetery (on the NRHP) and Elmwood have much more historical importance, IMO.  With Councilwoman Tyson's history, any funding she wants for Shadow Lawn cemetery will likely be going to nepotistic awarding of jobs to "maintain" Shadow Lawn.   I tried to find more information about what Councilwoman Tyson says the public money she advocates for Shadow Lawn would fund, but couldn't.  

The author of the article in the OP has done a great job reporting on the corruption and financial unaccountability from politicians and other public officials in the Bham area.  I wish he would expand beyond Bham, but that is the heart of the beast.

Can't we just level Bham and start over?

Then we'd have to bitch about Montgomery