Chickasaw: A city in transition
By Ken Malone
Chickasaw is typical of thousands of suburban, bedroom communities in America. It provides a quiet respite for citizens who work in noisy factories, mills and tumultuous service industries.
It has always been orderly and well governed, with never a hint of scandal or corruption.
It has always been a source of pride with well-kept homes, trimmed lawns and flower gardens.
It was once a prime, choice residential area, decades before highway engineers made possible the exodus of the young to pursue their dreams on another shore to the east.
It is fairly young, as cities go, only just over 50 years of age.
It is landlocked with no large industrial infusion of tax revenues and only a few small, service-oriented commercial endeavors to sustain its needs.
There has been no discernible progress for some time. In fact, some of the larger businesses have fled to greener pastures or sought refuge in bankruptcy protection.
Perhaps the most significant alteration was the decision of the state to construct an access at Lee Street so that I-65 travelers could more easily access Chickasaw.
The city seems to have shed its one time isolationist image. Today people of all ethnic backgrounds reside here with no apparent problems. The city labors in diligence to ensure order and quiet, but there are the inevitable speeders, untidy yards and some who enjoy their music just a decibel over dulcet.
Problems, yes. Perfection, no. But not exactly disturbances that would be considered unusual in our world today.
Sociological changes have come and the sun still rises each day. Black police officers patrolling Chickasaw streets -- once unthinkable -- pass by unnoticed.
The integration of Chickasaw has helped the city survive and promises to benefit its burgeoning revival. One hears countless stories of black couples and families who "look in" on elderly whites, living next door to insure that they are well. One hears from white young people who have long since moved away that black neighbors of a parent often call and advise the son or daughter about the welfare of an elderly mom or dad living next door.
Is it Utopia? Of course not.
It is a city in transition, a city coping, a city surviving through faith and perseverance, a city concerned about tomorrow and quite often looking back to yesterday.
Will it work out? Only time will tell.
A new mayor and council has just assumed office and offer new ideas, vision and pledges to bring a new beginning.
The old administration leaves, not in failure, but a victim of the times.
Shakespeare once penned "Men turn their backs on a setting sun." Applicable to us in Chickasaw? Only time will tell.
A city in transpiration, it affects many in differing ways. As former Gov. "Big Jim" Folsom once said after a crushing defeat, "I'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh."
This "city in transition" will witness some in tears, some in happiness and many in concerned apprehension.
As a people who have lived through hunger, hurt, hurricanes, the Great Depression, Reconstruction, defeat in armed conflict, plagues and turmoil, as a people who have lived under six flags and multiple ideologies, this writer believes we will indeed live, continue and prosper as a "City in Transition."
(Ken Malone is a former state legislator, former Mobile County tax assessor and a longtime resident of Chickasaw. He can be contacted at 457-1626.)
