Can Hope Spring from a Holler of Horror?

The reaction to the recent disturbing, horrifying treatment of Megan Williams at the hands of six lunatics in a Big Creek, WV, trailer have been relatively predictable. On the one hand, an outpouring of outrage over the brutal act and compassion for the victim. On the other, a reluctance to reflect on what this says about the existence of racism and a lack of diversity in West Virginia.

On WCHS-AM Charleston 580 radio's afternoon call-in show on Wednesday, an African-American man called in to share his frustration. He described himself as a well-educated professional who often runs into intolerance and racism in our state. The hosts had little patience for his attempt to connect the dots between other acts of intolerance in WV with the current Logan County situation. "Right now, it's about Megan and helping her, not politicizing the situation. We can talk about that other stuff later."

From the dominant culture's (ie, white) perspective, this is an understandable response. The story has been among the most viewed on CNN.com, MSNBC.com and other national news sites. It's the worst public validation imaginable of every ugly stereotype that exists about West Virginia. It's not fair, we think to ourselves. There are good people in Big Creek, in Logan County, in West Virginia...this doesn't represent us! Our traditional response to ugly incidents like this is to resist, to deflect, to protect ourselves from more salt in the open wounds of our self-image. Does national news from West Virginia always have to be about a disaster?

However, from a minority citizen's perspective, the lack of willingness to even consider whether this is a symptom of a larger problem, or a pattern of intolerance against non-white citizens, can be maddening. The lack of any public statements from our state or federal politicians about the situation can seem like cruel indifference. In the least-diverse state in the nation, lack of action and lack of a more public statement of tolerance and inclusiveness can resonate very loudly.

During the process of developing the Create WV initiative, it's been noted that there are few - if any - statewide, sustained, highly visible initiatives on diversity and tolerance that exist. We're trying hard to fix broadband, education and healthcare. But diversity? Not so much.

Past efforts (e.g., Governor Underwood's "One West Virginia" initiative, the Human Rights Commission's previous "Not in Our Town, Not in Our State" campaign) don't seem to have been big enough or sustained long enough to really re-brand West Virginia as a bastion of tolerance...and we certainly haven't enticed minorities to move here or even stop them from migrating out of here. (Side note: Could someone please allocate some budget to develop a modern, full-featured web site for the Human Rights Commission?)

In other cities and states, incidents like the one in Big Creek happen. Perhaps even more frequently than in West Virginia. The challenge is that we can't point to something positive that the vast majority of West Virginians are proactively doing to eradicate prejudice, racism and intolerance. We don't have a notable counter-point to an incident like Big Creek. In fact, we often have the opposite: silence, with hopes that it will all go away and people will remember the #3-ranked Mountaineers instead.

For this reason, a small but growing group of people in West Virginia are beginning to ask the question: what can we do? How can we proactively educate people? How can we embrace and empower people of all types within our state? How can we invite immigrants to our state and embrace them as a source of growth and opportunity like Iowa? How can we build on the legacy of African-American leaders who hail from our state (e.g., Leon Sullivan, Tony Brown, Henry Louis Gates, T.D. Jakes, etc.)? How do we become "Open for Everyone?" What can we point to in the future that is a more powerful image of inclusion and tolerance if, God forbid, something like this happens again? 

This is a huge need for West Virginia. This tragedy can lead to something very positive if we embrace the challenge and don't stick our head in the sand, waiting for it to all go away. We would really like to hear your thoughts on this one.

Comments

[Wabi-Sabi]

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

Hopefully, this tragedy can somehow be a catalyst for change, so that it never happens again.

Unfortunately, folks like the hosts on WCHS 580 and the Editors of the Daily Mail, (http://www.dailymail.com/story/Opinion/+/2007091454/Terrible+crimes%2C+but+not+emblems/), would prefer to sweep it away as quickly as possible and pretend that everything is fine.

[Clem Guttata]

Thanks for the thoughtful post. We've got a discussion going about it over at West Virginia Blue: http://www.wvablue.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1027

[Laura Little]

Perhaps one way, since we are all creators in one form or another, is to reach out to the Affrilachian literary movement and other artistic groups that have prominent black members. Let's do some listening first before we formulate a plan of action.

[Rebecca Kimmons]

The whole incident is horrifying, and as more background is revealed on all the players, the story only gets worse. But I don't think race is the real issue here. My guess is that Megan Williams just happens to be black, offering opportunities for some variety in the cruelty of her tormentors. Any unfortunate being without enough judgment to avoid these people would have found him or herself in the same situation. Yes, their words seem to indicate racial motives, but I think these people would sieze on any excuse for exercising cruelty. It is embarrassing that this happened in our state, but I feel embarrassed that a fellow human being who happens to be a pro football player treated dogs with abject cruelty. Cruelty is an ugly fact of human behavior, and it happens everywhere, in every social strata. It fills the papers and evening TV news. Racisim is flourishing, just like its nasty brothers classism, elitism, ageism--all those 'isms' we use to separate us from them, for whatever reason. Those people didn't care if Megan was white or black, any more than a cat cares what color its prey is. My guess is that they simply acted on an opportunity.

[keepthefaith]

This story breaks my heart because I have two small children and can't imagine how she and her family must be feeling.
To the poster before me, Are you SERIOUSLY comparing the Michael Vick incident to this ONE???? The fact is, her pertrators were racist and repeatedly uttered racial slurs at her while they tortured her. The response to this terrible tragedy is unbelievable. I pray for peace & justice for Megan and her family.

[Kim]

In response to what happened to the young black women in Logan County. I'm ashamed of this situation- I imagine this has been very traumatic for this young woman. I'm not her but I am a woman. This act was immoral and unethical. She did not deserve what happened to her. Nobody deserves to be treated in this manner. We do need something positive to come out of this situation. We need to figure out a way to come together and stop these intolerable acts.

[Kim]

The people who violated Megan do not represent everybody else in West Virginia- I think these people like to draw attention to themselves- This was a terrible thing for them to do - They are the ones who have to live with themselves - They have to live with what they have done-

[murrayewv]

This was a very thoughtful response to this crime and the aftermath. Certainly the crime was hateful, but most West Virginians I know are extremely embarrassed at how these individuals made the state and its citizens look and hoped to not be associated with this sort of person and behavior rather than defending them. But your point that we can't just turn to our good works easily is excellent. This would make it easier to separate the wheat from the chaff on this issue.

[tebiit]

Well it is good to know that some people rather prefer to distance themselves from the stupid acts of these 6 fools. There are good and bad people in every race and i don't think it is a good idea to use this incident to look at the white man as the enemy. It doesn't take only a white man to commit such a crime but it requires that the perpetrators be silly and wicked people. We know that not all white are wicked. So the main objective here should be that these mad criminals should be punished and let justice be done. These types of acts are not gonna end today. But there are many million other people who do not support them and if the tendency is to identify any race as the enemy then we are simply laying the basis for more trouble. We do not have to neglect these other brave people who do not want to judge a crimes on basis of color but who simple condemn criminal acts and cry loud for justice.