http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/trejbal/wb/91155

Southwest Virginia is for haters
By Christian Trejbal

541-617-7837
540-381-1645

Friends from across the continent called and e-mailed me Tuesday night and into Wednesday. The conversations mostly went something like this:

"Where the hell do you live?"

I don't know.

"Allen's winning" or, on Wednesday, "Allen carried your region and might win."

I know.

"After 'macaca' and 'nigger.'"

I know.

"The noose and the assault."

I know.

"And you approved that gay marriage ban that screws over all unmarried people."

I know!

"Where the hell do you live?"

Those election-night chats reflected an unfortunate but justified perception of Southwest Virginia.

Voters in our region heavily backed Allen and a hateful gay marriage ban that spites their single neighbors and children just to prevent the state from recognizing the unions of loving same-sex couples.

Your thoughts
Post to the message board
Agree or disagree? Take the poll
When outsiders look at Southwest Virginia, they see people stuck in the past, resistant to change and new ideas, and willing to overlook racism and discrimination to promote an exclusionary, right-wing agenda. They see Confederate flags, gun racks, Civil War monuments and Christian conservatives. Heck, the local National Public Radio station even airs a Civil War story every week.

In their eyes, we might as well adopt a special motto for the region: "Southwest Virginia is for haters."

My friends are hardly a representative sample of America. They are more politically aware than most and skew left. Two of them even moved to Canada after the 2000 election.

They are mostly younger, too, and are among the small percentage of Americans with advanced degrees. They are just the sort of people who could boost our economy by visiting or moving here. They long for places to relax and play amidst natural beauty, and we have that in spades.

I tell them it's not as bad as it looks from outside. I have met good people here. There are bastions of progressive ideals in places like Blacksburg, Radford and Floyd. We have outdoor recreation opportunities to die for: the Blue Ridge Parkway, national forests, mountains and rivers. We have bluegrass music and Floydfest. We have wineries. We have some good golf courses.

My friends don't want to hear it. Other places offer the same and welcome them.

Perception is everything, and that is bad news for a region hoping to attract tourists. The character of the community and its politics so turn off my friends that they have no interest in visiting despite everything else we offer.

Rep. Rick Boucher, who won re-election on Tuesday, has made tourism a cornerstone of his economic development strategy for the region. He has secured millions of dollars in federal assistance to develop trails, greenways, outdoor concert venues and other recreational facilities. With Sen. John Warner, he has also sought to designate wilderness and national scenic areas.

Some people say tourism is a pipe dream. They are wrong. Tourism has saved many economically stressed places after the people who live there embraced it.

Before I moved to Southwest Virginia, I lived in Bend, Ore. I saw firsthand a community, devastated by the collapse of the timber industry in the 1980s, reinvent itself as a tourist town and so much more after the visitors started coming en masse.

Even conservative communities can turn things around with tourism. Look at northern Idaho. The difference is that their conservatism runs more libertarian than dogmatically social. That, and they have snow for skiing.

It's not hopeless for Southwest Virginia, but money and advertising alone cannot generate enough tourism to replace declining manufacturing and agricultural industries. The people must open their arms, too.

Hostility to others is a crippling, degenerative disease. Young people flee it and potential employers shy away.

Southwest Virginia needs a fresh perspective.

We can remember and honor our history without fixating on it. We can stand for personal values without forcing them on others and creating second-class citizens. We can share the things that make us special, if we are willing to accept that new residents and visitors will bring different ideas.

Am I bashing my new home? You bet I am, but only because I can't stand to see so much promise wasted.

Christian Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Bureau in Christiansburg.