From the Publisher's Desk: The Response Was Shocking

By: 
Matt Adelman, publisher@douglas-budget.com

We knew from the outset that it was a long shot. We wanted to find some people of color and interview them about their reaction to the Black Lives Matter unrest, protests and impacts in the rest of the country. It’s not an overstatement to say we are fairly homogenous culture in east-central Wyoming, and, although we know a few people of color, we thought there had to be more. So we thought reaching out to the community via social media may just help us reach another segment of the population which receives little to no coverage around here.

The reaction, though, was wholly unexpected. The abhorrent, racist, hateful and, as often as not, profanity-ridden comments poured in. Many were so bad and profanity infused we had to delete them, though we were tempted to leave more than we did so others could see the reality of the situation. By deleting them, we knew, we were in some ways covering for those in our community who cannot express their opinions without delving into profanity and rage.

As First Amendment advocates, we support a free dialogue on issues, allowing all sides to have their say, even racist or hateful ones if they make a point. Many of these  posts were, instead, simply an affront to the intellect; yet, despite the abhorrent nature of their words, they would have still been allow to stay on our post had they not wallowed in the sewer with profanity.

In case it’s not clear enough, we have to say how shocked we were at the response.

We are not that community; we are people who care about and for each other. The love and friendship we show each other on a daily basis is nothing short of amazing. We are truly blessed.

The ranting and raging on our social media post is not “us” but it certainly should make us stop short and realize that undercurrent of racism is alive in our county. 

And before you start justifying their words by thinking they came from “outsiders” who are trying to inflame tensions, the vast majority did not; they came from people who live and work in our neck of the woods.

After that scene, we were not shocked that very few Black families were willing to come forward for a story, and the few people who did, asked us not to use their name or be sure to leave their children out of whatever we do with it. In the end, we decided to focus our reporting elsewhere.

Meanwhile, our vision of what Converse County is has been tarnished. That’s truly unfortunate us all.

––Matt Adelman

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Glenrock Independent

Physical Address:506 W. Birch, Glenrock, WY 82637 Mailing Address: PO Box 109, Douglas, WY 82633 Phone: (307) 436-2211

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