In a workshop I participated in, my town was described as two towns united by a football team, This is most certainly true, even today. One town can be described as the college campus with its more liberal professors and staff, and the other is full of what are called ‘townies’ elsewhere. The football team is the six-time Division II national champion Bearcats.
Maryville is a town with a streak of hatred. In the Thirties, we had a lynching. In 2013, a fourteen-year-old’s rape was blamed on her. Confederate flags occasionally fly, and black students report getting harassed in town businesses. This is not happening from the University side. I don’t want this to happen here.
It’s hard for me to live in Maryville because of this, but as this is where I work, I stay here. I would like to live in a bigger town with a kinder presence. I am not sure anything like this exists in the US; we are a mean country.
If I could, I would make Maryville nicer.
Words Like Me 