The history of Appalachia is often limited to the stories of white settlers’ place-making in the mountains. As a result, many people have come to believe that Appalachia is home to an analogous white population. Missing from our history books are the names of the first Americans who were forced from their mountain land. Missing from our memories are the stories of the African women and men who were “stolen away from the motherland” that settlers might build the famed Kanawha (West Virginia) salt industry on the backs of slaves.

As Appalachian scholar Danielle Dulken writes, “To indulge in an illusion of a homogeneous white geography has harmful consequences. Namely, it erases the histories of Native and Black and Brown people who live in the mountains of Western North Carolina and beyond.” (2) Dulken’s statement rings with truth. People of color have had a profound impact on the economy and social landscape of Appalachia. Tragically, their stories are seldom told.

AMERC’s founder, the Reverend Dr. Mary Lee Daugherty, was born in Bluefield, West Virginia in the heart of the coal fields. Mary Lee founded AMERC in 1985 to awaken church leaders to the rich culture of the people they are called to serve. As the Directors of AMERC, we must remember that while Mary Lee’s pedagogy and vision were pioneering, she nevertheless worked within the constraints of the mainline church of the 1980s. AMERC’s initial Board were all white. Additionally, in spite of the fact Mary Lee was an early advocate of feministic theology and one of the first women to be ordained by the West Virginia Presbytery, AMERC’s initial Board consisted of 20 men and only 3 women. Likewise, while Mary Lee honored the faith and theology of independent mountain congregations, AMERC’s initial Board limited the participation of individuals from indigenous Pentecostal and Baptist communities.

I acknowledge AMERC has sometimes continued to underrepresent the rich diversity of the region. Seldom do our classes explore how slave labor-built Appalachian’s iron works, salt industry, or southern farm economy. We often glance over the violence and oppression of the Jim Crow era in Appalachian context or the racist overtones that helped drive outward migrations. In as much as our classes have been largely limited to central Appalachia, we have also ignored migrant agricultural workers from Mexico, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

While I understand that AMERC entrusts the contents of classes to members, we can nevertheless urge our members to tell the whole Appalachian story and so deconstruct the invention of white Appalachia.

Of course, I celebrate the ways AMERC has been faithful to our vision. We have made significant progress in recruiting Black and Asian students to attend immersions. (Drew and Wesley have been particularly successful). We have also continued to build relationships with Appalachian LGBTQ+ community members. I would lift up our work to immerse our students in the culture of first American nations. Our relationship with the Old Regular Baptists has been of great value to consortium students. That said, we have much work to do as we focus on ways that AMERC can continue our journey as an anti-racist and welcoming foundation and resource center. (3)

When the shouts of “Black Lives Matter” were heard in London, Morehead, Harlan, and Whitesburg, Kentucky several weeks ago, a new generation of Appalachian leaders took to the streets. Citizen resistance to human exploitation through protest and civil disobedience has a long history in Appalachia. (4) With the shouts of “Black Lives Matter,” Appalachian children are following in the footsteps of their grandparents. The year was 1931 when miners and their families went to the streets in a struggle for fair wages, decent housing, and equal treatment at the hands of the local sheriff and security guards. “Which side are you on?” became the rallying cry (5) —a question now being ask each of us these hot summer days.