As I’m a refined and resourceful gentleman, I feel it’s my duty to occasionally spotlight one of the many delightful, and yet seldom visited, tucked-away municipalities that pepper the landscape of our wondrous nation. Without further ado, allow me to take you away to tranquil Vernon, Alabama.
According to the official Vernon website, maintained by the Vernon Volunteer Fire Department, it is “a city rich in history.” The foremost landmark is “the Jason Guin home, where the first elected Sheriff of the county kept his prisoners” circa 1860. I can’t help but admire the Sheriff’s devotion to law and order; as I understand it, there were a lot of “prisoners” trying to escape the South in the early 1860s.
According to the 2000 census, of the 2,143 people in Vernon, 86.2 percent identified themselves as “white,” 12.7 percent as “black.”
If you click on the ‘Southern Air’ tab on the Vernon homepage, you’ll discover that: “Here you will find true southern hospitality and charm. Where the ladies have honey dripping from every word.”
Here are some highlights from an article that mentions Vernon in yesterday’s New York Times, entitled: ‘For South, A Waning Hold on National Politics’ –
Race was a strong subtext in post-election conversations across the socioeconomic spectrum here in Vernon, the small, struggling seat of Lamar County on the Mississippi border.
One white woman said she feared that blacks would now become more “aggressive,” while another volunteered that she was bothered by the idea of a black man “over me” in the White House.
Don Dollar, the administrative assistant at City Hall, said bitterly that anyone not upset with Mr. Obama’s victory should seek religious forgiveness.
“This is a community that’s supposed to be filled with a bunch of Christian folks,” he said. “If they’re not disappointed, they need to be at the altar.”
“I am concerned,” Gail McDaniel, who owns a cosmetics business, said in the parking lot of the Shop and Save. “The abortion thing bothers me. Same-sex marriage.”
“I think there are going to be outbreaks from blacks,” she added. “From where I’m from, this is going to give them the right to be more aggressive.”
Thank you for allowing me to introduce you to this charming southern town. I’m hoping that we can plan a group weekend trip to Vernon in the near future. I’d like to visit soon, before 272 of its citizens start becoming aggressive.
No comments:
Post a Comment