I've been waiting to see if anyone local addressed this. Since not, I guess I should tell my story:
I am NOT from that area and have never lived there. But I do have relatives there. Passing through once on my way further south, I arranged to meet a group of relatives for dinner at a popular restaurant that also has a bar with music and dance.
We had a great dinner, wonderful visit, and even danced a bit. A good time was had by all, you could say. But I was woefully behind in a project that required me to briefly interview 100 people. I'm being intentionally vague about the details for the protection of my privacy.
Looking around, I saw every table in ghe restaurant and every seat at the bar full, some people standing around the small dance floor, and people lingering outside, presumably to smoke. I thought "what a great opportunity to interview a sizable number of people in a short period of time".
I spent the next 30 minutes "mixing" with the crowd, speaking with about everyone in the building. I wasn't invasive at all and everyone, without exception, was open and friendly. As I finished interviewing at one table or group, another group would beacon me to come talk to them. I quickly had more than half my project done and was thrilled. On top of that, I had the pleasure of meeting a truly amazing community of the nicest folks I'd seen in one place at one time.
Once finished, I stepped outside to rejoin several members of my own group as they took in some fresh air. What happened next took me completely by surprise.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?" shouted a local resident of my own group.
Mind you, I was in my late 50s, accompanied the whole time by my husband, and had not engaged in anything remotely 'flirtatious'. I had explained my professional 'project' to each person I interviewed. I was befuddled and confused by the considerable anger coming from this local fella.
As I blinked in the headlights, clueless, he continued to say things like "YOU MUST BE CRAZY TO HAVE A DEATH WISH LIKE THAT". Then it hit me with a sickening thud. I felt like I fell down a rabbit hole and landed squarely in a KKK meeting in the 50s. He was referring to the fact that there was a mix of ethnicities in that restaurant and I had dared speak with ALL of them alike.
Somehow, my speaking with, shaking hands, laughing with, and sitting at tables with people who were not WHITE endangered my LIFE in the eyes of this long term generational local. He seemed to imply that I should get out of town fast before the sun came back up.
I know this sounds unreal, especially for those who did not grow up in the south. It was unreal to me also and sickening.
All I can say is if what I did that night in a very public venue in the presence of my husband and many extended family members meant my very LIFE was then at risk (from whites, not from people of color) then I can't begin to imagine what risk Jessica Chambers ran. And the 'risk factors' are embedded throughout all rungs. Believe it!
There. I've said it. It seems no one else that is local is willing to speak up. I can understand: It doesn't take seeing many burned alive to silence people.
This is NOT to say Jessica wasn't killed by an ex, by a jealous woman, by a rejected man, etc. I'm just sayin' that the racist stuff is still seriously pathological in that part of the country and pretty high up the ranks, too.[emoji15]