2020 presented new levels of outrage over police killings of Black and Brown people in this nation. Police killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor which prompted protests, marches and rallies to denounce racially motivated police brutality.

A Black Lives Matter march in Kingwood, West Virginia set up a flash point for that tiny town. Black protestors and their allies faced off with white people who say Kingwood has no race problem. The angry white crowd outnumbered BLM marchers and showed the raw seam of rage that has come to define racism in this country.

A counter protestor wearing a Nazi SS shirt shouts at Black Lives Matter marchers in Kingwood, West Virginia on September 12, 2020. Photo: Chris Jones/100 Days in Appalachia
West Virginia Delegate Danielle Walker marches with a BLM activist on one arm and a counter protester on the other in an attempt to deescalate tension during a Black Live Matter march in Kingwood, West Virginia in September 2020. Photo: Chris Jones/100 Days in Appalachia

In this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay speaks with West Virginia Delegate Danielle Walker, a woman pushing back at the fear and outrage of racial hatred in America.

For this episode, Us & Them collaborated with Chris Jones and Jesse Wright of 100 Days in Appalachia, a non-profit news outlet at West Virginia University.

Armed counter protestors stand shoulder to shoulder with men wearing Nazi and white supremacist clothing while shouting at a Black Lives Matter march in Kingwood, West Virginia on September 12, 2020. Photo: Chris Jones/100 Days in Appalachia

This piece was originally published by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 p.m., with an encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.