Letter from the Managing Editor: The Tennessee I know

ABBY ANN RAMSEY Managing Editor

where in the midwest. When they realized I went to UT, they immediately had questions.

“Oh my god, what’s it like in Tennessee right now?” one of them said.

They knew everything that had recently happened in my home state. I told them that it had been really hard and exhausting and the future seemed unclear. I felt embarrassed and ashamed to be from Tennessee.

I used to dislike being from Tennessee due to some internalized anti-southernness. It took some maturing for me to realize how much I love this state, but as I’ve reflected on my life, I can say I’m proud to be from here.

But at that moment, I did not feel proud. These people perceived a Tennessee that does not feel like the Tennessee I know.

The Tennessee I know is beauty. It’s driving down Pellissippi Parkway and seeing the sun set over the Smoky Mountains as clouds surround the peaks — an experience I didn’t realize I was so lucky to have until I visited Texas.

way that when you go on a walk, you can pause to take in the beauty and move at your own pace, admiring your green surroundings, even though the pollen is horrendous.

Tennesseans pride themselves on community as people make friends in the most unexpected places.

This place has gone through many changes. Everyone’s flocking here and it’s starting to feel tight. But we can deal with being popular. We can easily welcome new people here.

But what is hard to deal with is the state legislature’s attempts to frame Tennessee, my home, as a place that is hateful, exclusionary, backwards and a leader in a widespread wave of altright movements sweeping the nation.

I don’t want Tennessee to become a place that I’m ashamed of. We’re constantly making national headlines that feel shameful. Yet, I’m usually able to take a step back and remind myself that our government officials rarely represent the Tennessee I know.

I got on a plane the first day of spring break and was relieved to be leaving the state to catch a break from the recent days of exhausting politics. I’d been angry and confused because of the legislature’s anti-drag measures, further attempts to regulate health care and a bill that would allow guns on college campuses.

The break lasted a few hours until I met some girls my age on the plane who were from some-

It’s playing in the backyard every hot summer day, picking honeysuckles and tolerating the humidity, only stopping when dusk comes to tell you it’s time to go in and nurse your bug bites.

Tennessee is spending all day at Dollywood not just because it’s the actual happiest place on earth, but because being from the same place as Dolly Parton is simply awesome.

Tennessee life moves slow but not as slow as the rest of America likes to think. It’s slow in the

This time, it feels harder to remember that. But I still love Tennessee and know deep down it has more to offer than what people see in national headlines. And that’s what I tried to communicate to my new plane friends. I basically answered their question by saying that it’s really hard, but that I have to remind myself that Tennessee is resilient and there are Tennesseans who will continue to push for what’s right.