The Shadow
Dear Editor,
I agree fully with what Courtney Howard said in her Aug. 22 Letter to the Editor.
I grew up in Bath County in the ’60s and ’70s and frequently went to Alleghany County. State Highway 220 was a drive through bucolic vistas, rivers, streams and, yes, even cornfields.
I don’t recall the rampant racism and blatant bigotry, so apparent now. Maybe I was just too young, dumb and too white to recognize it. I told a friend recently, “I don’t remember all of these people in Bath being so racist!”
He replied, “Maybe you just didn’t know them as well as you thought.”
When racist statements are hidden behind the claim of “free speech” and First Amendment, it needs to be called out and a light shone in dark corners where it hasn’t been directed before.
For all of its political differences and cultural cleavages, the Alleghany Highlands is a beautiful part of a region with some amazing people.
The promise of America should belong to everyone.
Sincerely,
Jerry Nelson
Buenos Aires, Argentina
