[Old School Hound]

Corbin is playing host this week to the All-A State Basketball Tournament at The Arena.  But is Corbin the venue we want hosting this competition? I say, sure, why not? Read on...

Cactus Jack made the point that outsiders wouldn't be surprised to see a cross burning at one of our three hotels in town. Actually, Corbin has many more hotels than that. I know back when I was in college, it was a fact that Corbin had more hotel rooms than any other city of its size in the entire United States. That might still be true or it might not. As to Jack's point that outsiders wouldn't be surprised to see a cross burning, he's probably right about that being an outsider's perspective. But is that perspective legitimate? Read on...

Let's face it, this Shitty little town is the scourge of the entire SE United States, and the most racist little town in America... Right?  Well... not so fast, my friends. I've lived here since the early 60's, my grandparents and great-grandparents, since before the turn of the 20th century. Yes, Corbin, has a racist past. For those who aren't aware, about 200-300 black men, women, and children were rounded up and forced , at gunpoint, onto trains, and shipped out of town on rail cars headed for Knoxville or Louisville on the night of October 30, 1919. My pawpaw turned 6 years old on that very day.  For the better part of a century, blacks never returned to Corbin, out of fear of being victims of similar racist violence. In fact, up until about 2000, Corbin was still cited on many lists as a "Sundown" town, a place where, if you have black skin, you better stay clear of this town when the sun goes down. I know some black folks who, to this day, will not travel through Corbin after dark. Is the fear warranted?... Read on.

When I was in college at EKU in Richmond, I met a young freshman who had just come to America a few months before from Saudi Arabia. He was taking a math course and found out that I tutored students in the subject so he contacted me and asked if I would come over to his apartment and work with him in math. I agreed. I went over and met him. We hit it off and he made me some of his favorite Saudi tea and told me about the town he was from and that his dad had three wives and was about to add a fourth. He asked me where I was from and I told him I was from Corbin.  He said," hmm ,  Corbin... I've heard of that. Isn't that where that KKK is located?"  Here's a guy who'd been in America for , like, two months and had already equated my sleepy little village with the Ku Klux Klan. Is this fair? Read on...

So, does Corbin deserve the bad rap(no pun intended) it gets for being a hostile little hamlet for black folks? Sure, October 30, 1919 happened. It was definitely a black eye(no pun intended, again) for the town but , all that summer in 1919 was called "Red Summer" because of the race riots all across the country, particularly the Midwest. Blacks were victims of violence in a lot of towns in 1919 and were run out of a lot of towns, not just Corbin. Does Corbin have plenty of racist folks living within it's borders? Damn right, it does!!! Hell, there was a documentary made about Corbin back in the early 1990's called "Trouble Behind" that has been shown in university sociology classes all over the country. One of my former neighbors, who was nicknamed the " town historian," was interviewed in the documentary. The old dude had a little black dog for a pet. You know what he named that dog? You probably guessed right--- he named his little dog "N****r."   Jeff Kyle also appears in the documentary. He was a black athlete from Middlesboro(one of the best ever) who moved to Corbin in the summer of '82 to play football for the Hounds. Jeff was also a star basketball player. He practiced with the team during the summer after moving from Middlesboro. But some folks decided having a black player on the team wasn't a good idea , Jeff went back to Middlesboro, where he played and starred for his senior season.

Back to sporting events, like the All-A State State Tournament. Should a former "Sundown" town like Corbin be hosting statewide athletic competitions where a lot of black kids would be required to come to a town with a history of violence against blacks?  As I'm sure you've already discerned, I am being quite facetious in this post. I've been to many CFIT BB tournaments over the years(probably 30 or more) , where many teams with almost all black rosters were invited to participate. I've also been to a number of 13th Region tournaments at CHS and at the Arena. I've never seen the black kids being subjected to any kind of mistreatment , in any way. Are there racists in attendance who would like to see the black kids beaten down by the white kids, or even wish the black kids weren't allowed to participate?  Of course.  But don't you bet there are just as many racists in attendance in every gymnasium and in every town in this state?

Look, Corbin messed up in 1919 and Corbin continues to mess up from time to time.  Remember the two Corbin High School BB players a few years ago who stupidly recorded a video from a local restaurant after a big win over Knox Central(who had several stud black players), saying that they had "put the monkeys back in their cages." Corbin was supposed to play Louisville Doss later that season at Gilliam Gym but Doss refused to come to Corbin, because of the fear of a hostile environment. Corbin's all-time leading scorer was suspended because of the incident (rightly so) , missing out on the opportunity to become the state's #2 all-time leading scorer.  And, remember the picture of the white CHS students who had a noose around the neck of a black student in a classroom?  These are dreadful incidents that only serve to  exacerbate the perception that Corbin is a racist community. I maintain that these kind of incidents are not isolated to 
my tiny hamlet in SEKY. These incidents occur everywhere. These kind of thoughts are held by people everywhere. Whether it's Harlan, Manchester, Pikeville, Richmond, or Bowling Green, prejudiced thoughts, actions, and incidents take place every single day. You just don't here about them like you do when it happens in Corbin. Corbin has the reputation(and that reputation was earned) and hence people are quick to point to Corbin as the poster child for a racist community.

There are some very $hitty and disgusting people in Corbin, from the Mayor, politicians , coaches, on down. But , in my opinion, it's no different in any other town in this state, or in the country. Contrary to what former SC Governor, Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, recently said, our country is a VERY racist country, has ALWAYS been a very racist country, and probably(and unfortunately) will always be a racist country. Hell, our Founding, Philandering Fathers OWNED black people.  TJ owned more than 600.  How dare anyone say we've never been a racist country!  With all it's many warts(and there many), including the race riots of 1919. Corbin is, in this writer's opinion, no more racist than Manchester, Hazard, McKee, Barbourville, or any other small town in this part of the state, or country, for that matter.  What we observe can be observed anywhere else in America. As Rod Serling once wrote for one of his Twilight Zone  episodes, "People are the same all over." Yes, Rod. Yes they are. 

So, as the city of Corbin hosts the All-A State Basketball Tournament this week, give the town some props. It has a nice, beautiful venue(albeit, better for concerts than basketball) to take in some games, and Cumberland Falls is just down the road if you enjoy walking some nice scenic trails and lodging near the Falls. Or go to the north end of town and have a meal at the site of the country's very first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant(Harlan Sanders Cafe & Museum), where Sanders first developed his famous recipe in the 1940's. He also shot a man during an argument over his signs, as well. Better yet, journey to historic downtown Corbin while you're here and see the statue to Corbin's most famous resident and pedophile, the lily white Colonel Sanders. While you might see a stoic Sanders etched in stone downtown, you won't see any crosses being burned out front of the Holiday Inn Express. Although, I have a couple of neighbors who are more than capable of cross burning, But I bet you have similar neighbors in your town, as well. You probably even have an old racist uncle like I do.

One thing that you will never hear from any residents or business owners while you are frequenting our establishments this week is something that you will only hear from Old School. Corbin takes pride in being the town where Colonel Sanders lived and began his first restaurant but there is never a mention that Corbin was also the home of a lady by the name of Reba Jeanette Smith. I knew her parents, Walter B and Alma, who lived very close to me growing up. Reba would go on to become Debbie Dean, the very first WHITE solo recording artist to be signed by Berry Gordy at Motown Records.  The town builds a monument to a nasty-tempered pedophile but all that exists in the town that bears the name of Reba Jeanette Smith("Debbie Dean") is a small marker in an isolated corner of Pine Hill Cemetery on the east end of town.  Wonder why ???   AND NOW YOU KNOW...THE REST OF THE STORY !!!

Btw, I won't have the opportunity to see any of the games today. If was gonna watch any of them, I'd want to see the kid from Lyon County, and future Wildcat, Travis Perry. The kid can really shoot the rock. I would have liked to have seen Williamsburg perform better but I knew they wouldn't have much of a chance. My guess is that Lyon will easily waltz to the title, as they are, BY FAR, the best team in the field. But, as we all know, THE BEST TEAM DOESN'T ALWAYS WIN !!!    And so it goes...  from Old School to your school.

[Son of the Alamo]

I'd like to piggy back off this because I seen the cross burning jab in the other post and wanted to address it. I moved to Corbin after living only in bigger city's like Dallas & Fort Worth Texas. I have noticed that in my time living here that I have found the sundown town reputation to be untrue. I challenge anyone that come to Corbin to just go Downtown just about any night of the week and you will find a diverse crowd at most of the local eateries and entertainment venues. I have noticed a large influx that my family fits into of Millennial and Gen X people that have either lived in large city's or went to school that decided to either move back or come here because of the small town community and honestly the strong emphasis of community support for sports too as a good place to raise kids. I also have noticed that the diversity in students to be growing also which I think is great. I hate to throw a certain industry under the bus but the sundown town stories always correlate's with the railroad and CSX having a hub right in downtown. but in modern time the CSX hub is all but closed and I think the previous experience more correlated with the railroaders that in all honesty had probably came from further in the south and were acting up in an area they had no investment in. below is a Time magazine write up from Silas House in 2018 talking about the changes coming to the area and I find a lot of what he says to be true even though my politics may not match with his I still respect what he says about the community. 

https://time.com/5349524/silas-house-essay/

[jetpilot]

Thanks guys for disproving Democrat identity politics crap that every Dem bases their campaign on. Everyone with a functioning brain already knew better anyway. And in typical OHS brainwashed form he only brings up the one so called Republican who does this (and is only getting Dem votes) in his post. LOL

[Cactus Jack]

I don't think Corbin should be barred from hosting. Honestly one of the best things for the city could be to come out of this as a gracious host that makes people rethink the things they've seen and heard about them and want to come back.

At the same time, I don't think that you can really blame someone that has been or would have been discriminated against there in the past for being hesitant about taking a trip there (or even having a personal preference that the tournament be hosted in another city instead). It's easy for people to say "oh, it isn't so bad" when they might not have been the target of the vitriol and there isn't a history of oppression or distrust. Let's be real, I'd say that most of the kids outside of the immediate area would much rather be spending the week in Richmond than Corbin.

@Old School Hound, I think you did a really good job summarizing a lot of the notable issues that Corbin has had. It's better to talk about it than have everyone ignoring the elephant in the room.

Another poster alluded to it, but there may be more diversity there NOW, but let's be real about how recent this is. It wasn't long ago that there were zero black students there, and I've known alum who were very open about how quickly they'd make the black kids who tried to go there leave as if it were some type of contest. Have seen and heard of other times where their players wouldn't shake the hands of black captains. That's something that you may find in some other towns, but most towns also phased out some of those types of things in the 60's and 70's. From my experience in the DFW area, I could see why an outsider might think that it'd be this really cosmopolitan place, but it's still a northeast Texas town with some issues that they need to work out. I look back on my time doing business in Fort Worth very fondly and love how everyone there is so down to Earth, but areas like Fairmount and Magnolia aren't really what immediately jump to mind when you think of it either-- it's cowboy boots, stockyards, oil pipelines, and pick-ups (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that).

The biggest gripes I'd heard about Corbin hosting the tournament were about the elephant in the room, the distance for most schools, the lack of hotels and activities for teams and fans, and the lack of utilities for the media. Kudos to them for stepping up to the plate and offering an area when Richmond couldn't. Maybe they can take the ball and run with it. Even if it isn't the All "A", maybe it's hosting a daylong event like the Marshall County Hoops Fest.

I can promise you that Corbin is much higher on the list of cities that will be picked to host something than plenty of other towns that I've lived in. I think that it was very smart of Corbin to beat London to the punch in building a "civic center" type arena that could host concerts, the regional tournaments, or other similar events and that doing so can pay off for them for years to come, especially if they shed some of the ugly shadow that's been cast.

[jetpilot]

How long since a cross has been burned in Corbin? Maybe adding a reparations tax to the current citizens of Corbin (99.999999% of whom did nothing wrong) would make everybody feel better and absolve the fine folks of Corbin of the sins of their forefathers. Hell now I feel guilty for ever having been to Corbin, I’ll throw in $20. Geez.

[Old School Hound]

Here's the infamous documentary that thousands of university students across the country have viewed over the past three decades. Most of the racists.. er, I mean , people, who appear in the video were neighbors, schoolmates, or acquaintances of mine growing up in this little village.

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Here's a short video, outlining the origins of Corbin becoming a "Sundown" town. You won't ever see this talked about at a Corbin Chamber of Commerce meeting.