Cullman breaks stereotype
New legislator's popularity transcends race
Monday, February 11, 2008
KENT FAULK

When James Fields walked into a Jack's restaurant in Cullman last week, several white men called out, "Hi, James," and invited him to their table to talk politics.

Fields, who is black, was welcomed into state politics by Cullman County voters nearly two weeks ago when they elected him to represent them in the Alabama House of Representatives. He is the first black elected to serve in that post in a county that's nearly 97 percent white.

"For me, it was something sort of like a miracle," Fields said in the days after his election.