The New Reality

I was at John's Barber Shop in Star City yesterday. BJ, John's son, cut my hair. I like the small town feel of the place, even if local Republican politicians get their hair cut there, and the talk often turns to gun collections and what animals they killed during hunting season. I'm usually not there long; I don't think they are ever busy and I go in the afternoon before school is out and people get off work. And also, I don't have a lot of hair to cut.

Yesterday, BJ said "I'm guessing you don't think much of the new President."
I said "No, I don't like him at all, but I imagine you do."
He said " I'm giving him a chance."

I should have asked him what exactly he liked about Trump, but I didn't want to hear about keeping Muslims or Mexicans out of the country, or stopping abortion, making people on welfare go out and get jobs, or "it's just those people in New York and Hollywood" (code for "Jews"). Those are the answers one might typically get in West Virginia, along with everyone's favorite "He's going to bring back coal." I've only heard that once, from an actual coal miner wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, in line at Sheetz, our local convenience store, before the election. I'm not sure many people around Morgantown actually believe that.

My friends are back in therapy, crying continuously, doing crossword puzzles instead of reading the newspaper, updating their passports. I see women in headscarves at Kroger looking distraught and speaking animatedly to each other in Arabic. West Virginia University has warned foreign students, especially those from Iran and Syria, not to leave the United States, for fear they will not be able to come back. Me, I call our US Senators' offices every day, asking them to block every nominee. Senator Manchin, our too-conservative Democrat, finally agreed to vote against Betsy DeVos, the nominee for the Department of Education, who plans to destroy the public school system.

In my travels around Appalachia before the election, I saw Trump signs in many of the dead and dying Appalachian cities and towns, often in the wealthier neighborhoods in places like Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I was reminded of the train trip Art Spiegleman's parents take to Switzerland before 1933 in Maus, where they are horrified to see Nazi flags in towns along their route.

Just in the last week, there was the ban on Muslims from several countries, the Holocaust Memorial Day, celebrating the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, where the President didn't mention that it was mostly Jews who were killed there. I haven't heard yet about the National Prayer Breakfast this morning. Rumor has it he was going to release yet another Executive Order, this one freeing "religious conservatives," even government employees and health care workers, from serving people who they find objectionable. That would include me and my husband.

It's become clearer to me that my candidacy for City Council in Morgantown, in addition to issues like traffic, parking, crime and snow removal, has to include a statement about inclusivity. We have to confront this administration about the hatred and bigotry they have brought to the fore, and in West Virginia, Morgantown is the place to start. Our county voted 50.5% for the Republican nominee, but I suspect it was much less in our small city. We can set an example for the rest of West Virginia.

Things are happening in other cities here. There was a march against the Muslim ban in Huntington this weekend, and at least seven cities in the state have anti-discrimination ordinances on the books that include LGBT protections.

I commented on an article on Huffington Post January 31, where they went to Harrisville, a town in Ritchie County, eighty-five miles southwest of us, described as "Northern West Virginia." The five or so people they interviewed are all supporters of the ban. There are just over 10,000 people in Ritchie County. Harrisville, the county seat, has fewer than 2,000 people.I pointed out that people in Morgantown have protested against the Muslim ban, and that all of "Northern West Virginia" doesn't think like the handful of people they interviewed in Harrisville

The Washington Post sent someone to Accident, Maryland, population 325, only forty miles from Morgantown. Yup, the locals there like Trump, too. The media likes these colorful stories from small towns, but these people only represent themselves and not even all the people who live in those places. Meanwhile, more mainstream views from larger towns are less frequently expressed, and all of us in Appalachia are made to look like yokels.

I want Morgantown to be a center for inclusivity and compassion, in defiance of the national administration, if need be.  I pledge to work for that.