State Sen. Garlan Gudger: 'I don't think there's a more welcoming town than Cullman, Alabama'

State Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) is sticking up against claims on social media that Cullman is a “sundown town” that isn’t safe for minorities.

In response to the city being No. 9 on Southern Living’s list of cutest southern Christmas towns, some social media influencers started claiming that Cullman is still a racist place. TikTok influencer Josh Colburn argued that Cullman isn’t a “Hallmark town.”

Gudger, who recently was elected by Alabama Senate Republicans to be the new Senate pro-tem, discussed the issue on WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show,” Friday.

“It hurts our town,” Gudger said. “We have got the best people, the most welcoming people. We have worked so hard for this Christkindlmarkt that we’ve opened. There’s approximately 200,000-250,000 people coming to our town in the next four weeks and just stuff like this. That’s not true. All that does is hurt us, and it’s ridiculous that this is still out there after, you know, 60 to 80 years of myths. But it is truly, I think, a myth. I’ve lived there my whole life, and I don’t think there’s a more welcoming town than Cullman, Alabama.”

Southern Living cited the Christkindlmarkt as one of the reasons it made the list. “Cullman Christkindlmarkt is one of many happenings around town and one of the most popular,” the story said, “with a life-size Nativity, a restored antique merry-go-round, and traditional music.”

Because of his life’s work, Gudger was able to effectively debunk claims by some that Cullman had a sign posted in the town that said minorities aren’t safe in the community.

“I do architectural salvage, and so one of the things that we do is go in and take architectural pieces out,” he explained. “One of the things I collect are signs. I’ve been looking for that sign forever, and I was born there in 1975 my parents moved to Cullman, Alabama, from Tennessee in 1966. My father said he’s never seen the sign. I’ve never seen the sign. There’s always rumors about it. But truly, I think that that sign never existed in my personal life. And I’m somebody that searches for those type of things of history all the time. So, I have never seen it, and it totally puts a shadow over the people of Cullman, Alabama, wherever you go. I was checking in at the beach one time, and they said, ‘Oh, that’s the place where the sundown town.’ I was like, that’s not correct. You know, come back and see our people. It’s different than what people have made it out to be.”

“But it makes me mad thinking of what people are trying to do to our community,” Gudger continued, “especially right now, when we’re trying to bring people together from all over the nation.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee