Beech Tree News Network

          Local:  The city of Morgantown recently unveiled an approximate $3.7 million dollar plan to totally remake the Charles Black City Park - a project that could take place in steps spread out over five years.  Hooray for city officials is having the boldness to ponder this necessary next step in Morgantown's future. 

          Our park facilities were the envy of many communities when they were envisioned and ultimately realized by Mayor Charles Black and other city leaders many years ago.  Now, unfortunately, they are not.  We "missed the boat" by not continuing to invest in park facilities, organization and management over the years and ceded our head start in this area and in understanding the economic development opportunities that can benefit a community.  We're playing catch-up now but at least we are preparing to join the game. 

          The project, as it was detailed at the last council meeting, was impressive, ambitious, and comes with a hefty price tag.  How will we pay for it?  Restaurant tax?  Belt tightening? Grants? Bonds?  That will be sorted out and debated thoroughly over the coming months.  Good.  This is exactly the type of conversation our community needs.

          State:  Civility in political discourse?  Still lacking in our nation and apparently in Kentucky.  Consider these emails sent to Kentucky Commissioner of Education Wayne Lewis, who is black.  I mention his race because the first email has a clear racial intent - and not a good one.  To top it off, these were emails apparently sent by educators - one from Meade County and the other from Jefferson.  Let that sink in for a while.   

Here's the first one from Meade:    

          “Nobody wants funding for charter schools except people who don’t care about brown and black kids. This is disgraceful and disrespects all great black leaders current and past. ALL Reputable Research shows that charter schools devastate minority communities. Systemic racism perpetrated by a man of color is the same reasoning that made some people of color become overseers during slavery. Sorry for bothering you with this ‘Massa’ >: (.”

And now from Jefferson: 

           “Stop sending us emails. We don’t like your agenda. We don’t want your business please go back to where you came from. You and your butt buddies can go ruin another state. You’ll answer to the Lord one day and you know what’s going to happen if you don’t change your ways." 

          Lewis described these comments as “the most hateful and disrespectful emails I’ve ever been sent, from people who teach Kentucky children.” What was Commissioner Lewis' crime?  He had the audacity to suggest finding a funding mechanism for public school students who choose to attend a charter school - public money already appropriated that will follow the student.  Charter schools have been authorized by the General Assembly but, to my knowlede, not a funding plan.

          Now, reasonable people can have disagreements over the merits of charter schools but this goes beyond that.  The comments directed toward Lewis were not representative of policy differences but were a verbal attack on him personally and meant to demonize an individual.  They should be condemned by all.  Has any of the various and vocal education advocacy groups in Kentucky done that yet?  I hope so. 

          National:  How does a nation find common ground?  More specifically, how do individuals find a productive way to disagree significantly about vitally important issues while at the same time respecting the individual who holds those opposing views?  It isn't easy but it is absolutely necessary for us to do.  Failure to do so may result in another civil war.  Don't laugh, I'm very serious.

          The decade of the 1850s was one of the most turbulent in American history as we grappled with the slavery and how it was dividing our nation.  There were riots, protests, court cases, controversial laws, secession, etc.  The 1960s were another period of extreme angst resulting from the Vietnam War and a multitude of generational shifts in thinking.  Again, there were riots, protests, court cases, controversial laws, etc. 

          The national fabric ruptured in the decade following the 1850s and a civil war was the result.  Somehow, we were able to pull back from the brink in the late 1960s and 1970s.  I think the very real threat from the Soviet Union, the Cold War, communism and possible nuclear annihilation played a role in preserving our national unity - as did Ronald Reagan. 

          So, what unites us now?  Where is the starting point for finding a way forward that can ultimately result in the return civility, robust but civil discourse, and common sense?  I don't pretend to have concrete solutions but I do have some ideas about how to go about finding our way in a nation that so many of us find to be unraveling at the seams.  Next week I'll begin that discussion.

          Dumb Quote of the Week:  A new feature this week that I felt compelled to add.  After all, there are just too many silly things out there to choose from.

          "They'll say, 'Well, I'm not racist.  I just voted from him because I didn't like Hillary Clinton.' And I just want to say that's not -- that doesn't make you not a racist.  It actually makes you racist."  --CNN's Kirsten Powers on women who voted for Trump.

          Parting Shot:  Did U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) actually compare ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to the KKK?  It sounded like it.  At a recent hearing, she repeatedly grilled the acting director of the agency about the “perception of many” that ICE agents behave like and have similar characteristics of the Klan, which has a history of burning crosses, murder, terrorizing and lynching black Americans.  Her comments were inflammatory and unfortunate.  Reagan Country deserves better. 

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