Cullman is enjoying the spotlight this holiday season as visitors flock to a celebration of the Alabama city’s German roots — the Christkindlmarkt.
Featuring a Weihnachtspyramide, a 40-foot-tall Christmas pyramid that is the country’s tallest, the one-of-a-kind Christmas market also offers an ice-skating rink, Ferris wheel, and a life-size nativity scene.
It caught the attention of ‘Southern Living,’ which named the city of nearly 20,000 one of the “cutest Christmas towns in the South.” The article noted the market was “in the perfect small town.”
“Ya’ll, we got drama in Alabama,” the now viral video states. “Ain’t nobody coming to Cullman,” the poster says with a laugh.
“Cullman, Alabama is a sundown town. Was, is, forever will be,” the video continues. “If they really are changing and becoming more welcoming …. They need to put some marketing effort into that first.”
Some say the change happened long ago and they hope people will see how far Cullman has come.
Nathan Anderson, Cullman’s Parks and Recreation Executive Director, told AL.com that the town’s history is complex like “most Southern communities.”
Anderson hopes that the people will see for themselves that it has changed for the better, that the community is welcoming and inclusive to everyone.
“Our message is, please come and experience it. I can assure you, it is not what you’re hearing from those that aren’t familiar with us, that haven’t been here, definitely not in recent decades. So the last thing I want to do or say is something insensitive to anyone that had history with this, like many of the communities in the South.
“All I can say is, that’s not our story for today. We are the opposite, and we go to church with a diverse group of people. My kids go to school with a diverse group of people. You know, we play ball with them. It is it is the opposite of what others are saying.”
Anderson also shared that over Black Friday weekend 16.6% or 7,000 attendees of the Christkindlmarkt were from the Black community. This is according to an analytic tool that tracks consumer foot traffic called Placer.ai.
When AL.com posted an article on Facebook about the ‘Southern Living‘ Christmas town designation, many comments reiterated Cullman’s reputation for once having had signs that supposedly warned: “N***er Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on You in this Town.”
“Last time I was passing through Cullman, 2 Black ladies came into the Walmart at the same time and every single Caucasian in there gave them the death stare. I have never felt more embarrassed being in a store. It was INSANE!”
“Adorable as far as Sundown Towns go.”
“Ok so my daughter had a couple soccer games in Cullman and Arab this season and we have never had any issues. The people were always pleasant. However we leave before dark, because I too have been taught to leave before the sun goes down.”
The late Tuscaloosa News columnist Ben Windham in 2006 interviewed former state Rep. Tom Drake, who grew up in Cullman, about the sign. You could mention Cullman anywhere in the state and Black people “would say, ‘Oh, no! I don’t want to go there,’” he quoted Drake as saying.
Black people, Drake said, “were afraid to go into certain parts of Cullman County. That’s just the way it was.”
Several Black people who have lived in Cullman told AL.com that the historical perception is not indicative of the current reality in the city which hosts the annual Rock the South music festival that attracts more than 100,000 people over three days.
Ronnail Hall, a Black man, has lived in Cullman his whole life and intends to stay there and raise his family. Hall posted a TikTok video offering his experience living there and addressing the comments about Cullman being a sundown town.
Hall said in the video that the city is not a sundown town currently and added that his family has lived there for generations.
Hall told AL.com that he is not refuting Cullman’s history but merely trying to express his lived experience and progress he has seen the town make.
Hall said that he has always felt safe at night and has enjoyed experiencing parties, sports games and restaurants after dark.
“People will sit here and say that it is a sundown town but if it was, I would be a dead man,” Hall said.
He encourages people to visit the town and see for themselves what it is like.
Najee Davis moved to Cullman from New York to play college basketball in 2012. Davis, a Black man, said that his entire time in Cullman was the epitome of ‘southern hospitality’ and mentioned that he moved in with a local white family through a basketball and church program.
Davis said the family became his home away from home and he never felt unsafe, even after dark. Davis no longer lives in Cullman but he says he still visits.
Davis said that he was confused with the focus on Cullman as an isolated example when the South in general has a similar racist, history.
Davis mentioned that anti-Black violence was prevalent during the Jim Crow era, all throughout Alabama and the South, making virtually any place unsafe for Black people.
Davis said he thinks Alabama as a whole needs to work to combat its racist history and not put the onus on individual towns.
“It’s not just a Cullman thing. It’s not an isolated experience from Cullman. That’s where I get confused, like, when, because like, there’s Black people who lived in Cullman historical, right? I’ve met a lot of them. They love Cullman.
“Their kids grow up in the school systems. They play sports. So it’s not like Cullman (is unsafe) and in Birmingham you were fine. No you won’t. They were blowing up churches with kids in them. It was crazy.”
Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs provided a statement to AL.com saying the city “has been working hard to create a city that welcomes everyone, and our efforts to expand tourism and family-friendly attractions reflect that commitment.
“From our thriving festivals and sports tournaments to our charming small businesses and restaurants, we’re proud to offer experiences that bring families from all walks of life together to enjoy all that our city has to offer.
“Our goal is to show the region—and beyond—that Cullman is a place of openness, warmth, and inclusivity. We are dedicated to ensuring that every visitor feels at home here and can share in the fellowship, fun, and sense of community that make Cullman such a special place to live, work, and play.”
