by Danny Woodall

dannywoodall@yahoo.com

On July the fourth, marching bands and children waving flags often crowd the streets across the United States. The smell of burgers and hot dogs fill the air. Nighttime fireworks will burst across the sky. For one day, our nation will come together to celebrate our country’s birthday. Coal has been there a part of our history from the beginning. It has outlasted the wood burning stoves and has survived our oil driven economy. Railroads depended on coal to power the first locomotives. Today, coal is a major source of electricity for much of the United States. But coal has an image problem, it’s dirty. Cameras shun the soot stained workers wearing hard hats with light beams, instead they prefer workers sweating in the sun with a smudges of grease on their arms. So the hard working men and women who work the mines are often portrayed in unflattering ways.

Stereotypes are a part of life and have led to many misconceptions. A quick glance at something and we size up the situation based on previous experiences and cast our opinions, often in stone. Jesus the Messiah? No way, he’s from Nazareth. He’s a carpenter. As a result of these labels, the Pharisees and Sadducees missed the promised Messiah. The astronomer who discovered Uranus believed the moon was inhabited with lakes and pyramids. Another common myth, coal miners are dirt poor and uneducated. The new trucks and nice houses must have been won at the casinos or from the lottery.

An explosion or accident in a mine and the national media shows up in the Appalachian Mountains with their stories half written. Documentaries might start with a refrain from Loretta Lynn’s singing about a coal miner’s daughter. The cameras scan the poorest section of Appalachia and the announcer intones about the unfortunate plight of those that work in the mines. Never mind the importance of coal to the nation’s economy.

It doesn’t matter if oil workers and coal miners make roughly the same salary; news stories portray the oil worker as more educated. Coal miners put their lives at risk everyday. We should appreciate the contributions that miners make toward making our country less dependent on foreign oil. Like oil, domestic coal receives competition from foreign mines, usually from China and Russia.

Anytime we have to dig deep into the earth, accidents can and will happen. The current mess in the Gulf should remind us of the dangers involved in many of the energy related industries. When companies put profits ahead of safety, accidents will increase. The other extreme of stopping all coal operations, put our country at risk to other nations, in the twenty first-century coal is still a valuable resource. What is needed is a common sense approach to the problem. Miners shouldn’t be treated as replaceable parts, nor are they ecoterrosist. They are hard working men and women who have chosen a line of work that is filled with risk, but offers rewards. Sure the miners could leave the area for hi-tech jobs that maybe be outsourced overseas, or stay where there is work in the mines.

As we celebrate our nation’s birthday, the spirit of Constitution Hall is alive and well in the heart of coal country. Hard work, determination, and persistence helped the framers of the Constitution preserve. The workers in the coal mines which help our country maintain its freedom show those same values. Instead of casting them in an unpleasant light; reporters should report how miners risk their lives so that we can enjoy the benefits of coal. Miners are men and women who help keep this nation strong.

Copyright Danny Woodall