When I first moved to Alabama, some friends and family were wary.

My dad, for instance, had traveled to 48 states prior to me moving here. One of the only two he’d never been to was Alabama. He said, “Well, I don’t want to go to a state where they were chasing black children down the street with fire hoses during my lifetime.”

Lizi Arbogast is the sports editor at Tallapoosa Publishers, Inc.