Several days ago, I heard a commentator on public radio mention a southwest Kansas legislator who had embarrassed himself with a bigoted and inaccurate explanation of minorities’ susceptibility to drug abuse. The commentator, who lives in Wichita, said the legislator was from Garden City.
Rep. Steve Alford is from Ulysses. And after his remarks about legalized marijuana and minorities were reported, he apologized and resigned from leadership positions in the House. It was the least he could do.
If you’re from Wichita, the geographic error made by the commentator is inconsequential. But it reflects an attitude that irks western Kansans. It would be the same as mistakenly saying a Wichita legislator was from Hutchinson.
From the perspective of western Kansas, too many eastern Kansas residents don’t know and don’t care about anything west of Wichita.
But to be fair, western Kansans’ opinions of eastern Kansas are often just as dismissive or snide.
People in Kansas have a long history of insulting people in other parts of the state.
Some of the ribbing is good natured, like insults flung by fans of rival schools.
Decades ago, as a reporter at the Lawrence Journal-World, I covered a KU pep rally that was mostly jokes about K-State.
One example: What do they call good-looking women at K-State?
Answer: Visitors.
Being a K-State graduate, I found it funny.
But funny tilts toward harmful when jokes become the stuff of proposed public policy.
That indicates that the insults don’t play off silly stereotypes but reflect bigoted views about a state, school, country or group of people.
Such was the case when President Donald Trump reportedly stated that the United States should reduce or end immigration from “shithole countries,” including African nations such as Nigeria and Haiti in the Caribbean.
There’s an ongoing dispute about what words the president used, but it’s clear he wants to reduce immigration from countries he deems unworthy.
Never mind that a higher percentage of African immigrants hold college degrees than U.S.-born Americans.
Never mind that the genius of America is that for 300 years it has attracted people who are ambitious, resourceful and daring – regardless of their economic situation in their homeland.
Kansas was settled mostly by immigrants who wanted a better life for themselves and their families. Many of those immigrants were poor.
Those already living in Kansas did not always graciously welcome newcomers different from themselves. Volga-Germans in Ellis County and Eastern Europeans in southeast Kansas faced discrimination, although it was mild compared to the threats and denigration blacks endured. Mexican immigrants, who came to Kansas to farm and build railroads, also were subjected to hate and bigotry.
Today’s insults about people who are different share a common thread. Whether they are based on geography, race, religion or university affiliation, the theme is the same: By denigrating another set of people, we seek to elevate ourselves.
This is illogical on many levels.
Not that logic and public policy are necessary partners.
It’s not that I want to rob people of their fun. A little jabbing at school rivals adds to the entertainment. And comments made about regions or communities can reflect distinctive characteristics.
Certainly, people’s views are colored by where they live. Rural Kansans have different concerns about access to health care, for example, than residents of Wichita or Johnson County.
Geography has bred differences almost everywhere I have lived. In New York, it was between New York City and the rest of the state. In California, the north-south divide was more evident than the San Andreas fault. Geographic splits were less common in Indiana, probably because it was more homogenous, economically and demographically. Or perhaps because Indiana invests most of its snark in sports rivalries.
Kansas turns 157 this week. It’s a good time to celebrate the achievements of immigrants who built this state with brains and sweat. And it’s a good time to marvel about what can be accomplished when we focus not on who we can tear down, but on what together we can build.
A native of Garden City, Julie Doll is a former journalist who has worked at newspapers in California, Indiana and New York, as well as across Kansas.