I’m a small-town Michigander who lives about an hour south of Traverse City, and I’m afraid none of this feels even vaguely surprising to me. TC is sort of a hybrid for this part of the state.

Where I live, people don’t even pretend. School boards, like all other institutions, are intensely conservative, intensely pro-Trump, and unapologetic about upholding systemic racism, which they deny exists in any form even though no black people live around here at all. Which, gee, I wonder why?

When I moved up here from Detroit, I felt like I had stepped into a racist time machine.

I was really sad to read about the controversy in Traverse City, because I experience TC as a small island of progressive values in a sea of conservative toxins. I guess TC has that reputation because it’s a vacation destination and retirement destination for more progressive people.

But clearly, a culture clash is taking place. I’m hoping and rooting for the forces of good and morality to beat back the hate.