Stop Celebrating Hate

I love my town.

Despite the common belief that Southern towns don't welcome strangers, especially Yankees, into their fold, I have been welcomed, accepted, and forged a successful career here since arriving here nearly two decades ago. I love how Shelby, North Carolina celebrates its diversity, has developed a quirky arts scene, and has established itself as a center of bluegrass and roots music becoming known nationally for its musical heritage.

But, as with many Southern towns, we are surrounded by constant reminders of a not so positive past. Throughout our beautiful Uptown area, its impossible not to notice the old buildings with a main entrance and a door to the side that today seems inexplicable, but not long ago served as the "Colored" entrance to the building. Sometimes we are reminded of this ugly past whether it be by a hateful comment, a racist display, or even an act of racist violence. Although, unlike days past, these rare instances are met with almost universal revulsion.

While the past is inescapable, there is no need for us to celebrate the worst parts of it. So, why is it, then, that we continue to have the main highway through our town be named after a perpetrator of some of the most vile, violent, racist philosophy ever espoused?

Thomas Dixon, Jr. is one of Shelby's most famous and infamous sons. He was without a doubt an incredibly accomplished individual. A scholar, author, preacher, and philosopher who was a friend to Presidents and influenced millions, Dixon was considered one of the leading minds of the late 19th and early 20th century.

However, what Dixon is best known for is a trilogy of novels which championed the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and perpetuated a philosophy of white supremacy which considered persons of African descent to be less than human. Dixon's philosophy considered Africans to be inferior in intelligence, morality, and every other way. He supported lynching as a legitimate act necessary to subjugate the black race and to maintain the social order of the South. Dixon's books were the basis of the film "Birth of a Nation" which continues to be considered one of the most racist films ever made.

Dixon's beliefs were very much a result of his birth and upbringing in Cleveland County. At a young age he witnessed a lynching by Klan members in the Shelby town square of a black man accused of raping a white woman. As the body hanged from a tree in the town square, Dixon's mother whispered to him that the Klan were their people. As I walk each day through this very square on my way to the courthouse, I can't help but wonder if any of the beautiful old oak trees I pass once bore the weight of a burned and bullet riddled body of a young black man whose only jury was an angry mob and whose only due process was found at the end of a knotted rope.

I do not propose that we wipe our city of the memory of Thomas Dixon. I don't propose digging up his grave in Sunset Cemetery or even taking down the plaque which commemorates his authorship of "The Clansman" or that the book inspired "Birth of a Nation." His history is our history, as much as many of us wish it weren't.

But why should a city which is working so hard to reinvent itself as a cultural center, drawing visitors from across the Southeast and the nation, present as its gateway, a highway named after someone who spouted such vile and hateful racism? Our vibrant Uptown is filled with streets named after Revolutionary War heroes, recounting our County's pivotal role in the founding of the United States. We have built a new tourism industry based on our musical native sons Don Gibson and Earl Scruggs. We even have a new brewery opening in a few months which takes its name from this musical heritage. Our streets are now filled year round with performers and artists bringing a new progressive vibrancy that has not been seen here before. Surely we can do better than to continue to celebrate hate as we welcome those visitors coming in to share in this cultural renaissance we are experiencing.

I propose that we rename the stretch of U.S. Highway 74 that runs through Shelby, NC to reflect the musical heritage of this area. Certainly names such as Bluegrass Boulevard or Earl Scruggs Highway, or even Scruggs-Gibson Boulevard would better represent the Shelby of today than Dixon Boulevard does.

We do not need to forget our past, whether it be good or bad. In fact, we must remember it lest we repeat it again. But we need not celebrate the worst parts of it, nor yoke ourselves with the burden of past hatred. We can do better. We must do better.