Avatar in Appalachia

[appal_jack]

Apparently, the National Park Service is willing to de-list an important site from the National Historic Register in order to accommodate Big Coal :argh:

-app

Link & 4 paragraphs of story:

http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/frontporch/blogposts/avatar_in_appalachia/

In the movie Avatar, Parker Selfridge of the RDA mining corporation, has the bulldozers take down the Na’vi history tree. It’s standing between them and a valuable black energy rock called “unobtainium.”

In Appalachia, Randall Reid Smith, WV Commissioner of Culture and History, asks the National Park Service to remove National Historic Register designation from Blair Mountain, site of a major 1921 confrontation between the coal miners unions and the coal industry. On Jan. 8, 2010, Carol Schull, Chief of the National Register for the Park Service, announces an unprecedented de-listing of a national historical site, effective immediately.

Appalachia’s history is standing in the way of another valuable black rock.

“If they can Stalinize our history like this, it shows that big coal still owns our state government,” said Wess Harris, editor of “When Miners March,” a book documenting the union’s side of the battle of Blair Mountain. “This action does not stand alone but is part of a deliberate effort to erase Appalachian history.”

[pscot]

1. Guess they can do whatever the fuck they want

and nobody can do a thing about it.

[appal_jack]

2. Good people are fighting back.

Appalachian Voices (http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/site/mtr_overview/) and their partner organizations and allies are doing a whole lot to fight back.

Full disclosure: despite the similarity of my DU handle to the organization above, I am not a staff or board member there. I am an admirer of the group though, and am proud to call several of the staff there my friends.

-app

[Lorien]

6. But can we fight back against this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4218309

[patrice]

3. : - ((((((((((( (((((((((((((( ((((((((((((((((( (((((((((((((((((( . . .

[appal_jack]

4. Here is what they threaten:

The battle of Blair Mountain was the largest civil uprising on American soil since the U.S. Civil War. It was a spontaneous outpouring of rage and grief over conditions in the southern coalfields and the August 2, 1921, cold blooded murder of Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield, who a year earlier had befriended the miners when Stone Mountain Coal Co., tried to evict striking workers from their homes. The battle lines were drawn by August 26, 1921 and by Sept. 5, 1921, the rebellion was over.

Over the course of the disruption, between 10,000 and 15,000 coal miners assembled near Lens Creek in Kanawha County and armed themselves for a march over mountainous terrain to avenge Hatfield and to rescue illegally imprisoned miners in Mingo County.

The miners commandeered trains, company weapons, wagons, food, and other supplies as the rebellion grew. Awaiting them at the Logan County line was a citizen army led by Logan County Sheriff Don Chafin who swore not let an armed mob march through his county. The coal companies paid Chafin some $32,000 per year to keep the UMWA out of Logan County and to prevent Logan and Mingo miners from joining the union.

The two armies clashed along the top of Spruce Fork Ridge of Blair Mountain, firing more than a million rounds of ammunition at each other. The U.S. Army and Air Corps ultimately crushed the rebellion without firing a shot. The union surrendered rather than fire upon American soldiers, making clear their patriotism. Although the rebellion did not succeed, it ultimately served as the rallying cry for organized labor throughout the U.S. and was instrumental in bringing the benefits of organized labor to working class Americans in all major industries.

Historical account by Barbara Rasmussen

http://friendsofblairmountain.org/history/index.html



Erasing this history is unconscionable. The phrase "Stalinization of history," is not an exaggeration in this context. The battlefield site only received Historic Register designation on March 30, 2009, following decades of effort by local community activists and regional historians and anthropologists.

From the press release of last year (http://friendsofblairmountain.org/news/nationalregister.html) when the site was listed on the Historic Register:

"West Virginians share a rich and proud history," said Regina Hendrix, a Charleston resident and member of Friends of the Mountains. "We chose justice during the Civil War and claimed our independence of thought and action. Now thanks to five long years of effort by Friends of the Mountains and our many supporters and super volunteers, we can pause to commemorate our history and honor our heritage. The site of this battle is of national labor history significance, and we can all rejoice and applaud the National Park Service's decision to place this site on the National Register."

Blair Mountain is one of the most important labor historic sites in the nation. In 1921 on Blair Mountain, 10,000 people clashed as coal miners rose up against coal barons in defense of their right to unionize. The undeclared civil war that followed lasted ten days and became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain. This legendary event is now characterized as America's largest-ever labor struggle. The shooting war pitted union and anti-union forces against one another in the mountains of Logan, West Virginia, and culminated in the arrival of federal troops at the governor's request.

"National Register designation is a vitally important step in the preservation of Blair Mountain, a site we listed as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2006," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Nevertheless, the threat of coal mining activity at Blair Mountain remains present and we will continue to vigorously oppose mining efforts at the site."

-app

Edits for second link and other details...

[Lorien]

5. Erasing mountains is also unconscionable. I still find it hard to grasp the fact

that such an utterly devastating practice is allowed at all. The effect is nearly as bad as a small nuke, with all life destroyed in the path of greed and the toxin wrecking havoc for decades. Big coal is the death of birth, wherever they set their sites. The truly sick thing is that the same mountains that they destroy for a few years worth of the black stuff COULD be put to use with wind farms along their ridges which would provide clean energy for generations.

[appal_jack]

7. Agreed

I firmly believe that Mountaintop Removal IS ALREADY ILLEGAL under both the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Only the most flawed, severe, and unnatural legislative and regulatory contortions have allowed the process to take place at all.

Basically, in the USA, money trumps 40 years of environmental legislation and the citizens' access to the courts for the redress of legitimate grievances. This needs to change.

-app