News

New York Times covers Hendersonville's view of terrorism

By Bill Moss, Published: December 27, 2016

Hendersonville is the setting for a New York Times report on a small town's view of terrorism and how President-elect Donald J. Trump addresses residents' concerns.

"In a North Carolina Town," the headline says, "Terrorism Abroad Raises Apprehension."

The story quotes Hendersonville City Councilman Jeff Miller and two ministers, the Rev. Bill Campbell of Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. Greg Mathis, senior minister of Mud Creek Baptist Church.

Miller describes to the Times what he felt when heard a news report of the Christmas market attack in Berlin.

“I thought, here we go again,” he said. “So sad.”

“This world’s dangerous right now, and I don’t think we are nearly where we need to be with border security,” he went on. “I believe Donald Trump wants to do it right.”

The story pursued a theme of how this apprehension over terrorism has made Hendersonville resident wary of outsiders, even as the community has come to openly accept the Latino population that pick apples, roof houses and work in service industries.

"So the part of the immigration message that really resonates here is about Muslims from the Middle East," wrote reporter Sabrina Tavernise.

“It’s a little different than any time in history, when we are seeing this level of terrorism sweeping the world, and that has gotten people’s attention,” Campbell said. “Terrorism is an ideology, it’s not a religion, but the religion that tends to give birth to it most often these days is Islam. The threat from that is very real, and we can’t just ignore it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/us/muslims-north-carolina-hendersonville.html