April 2001
Bert Speelpenning
For most of us the story of the feud between the Appalachian clans of the Hatfields and the McCoys is just plain quaint. People killing each other back and forth to restore honor to their families? Why didn't anybody call the police? Even family members are eager to show the world that the era of the feuds is long past. Bo McCoy organized a joint family reunion for June of 2000, for descendants of both clans. The reunion was so successful that the second annual reunion is scheduled for June 2001 in the neighboring towns of Pikeville, Ky and Matewan, WV - this one open to the public. One of the festivies will be the Hatfield vs. McCoy Softball Rematch. What a completely different world we live in a hundred years later - the Hatfields and McCoys now have a shared interest to dispel the notion that they're just a bunch of "ignorant illiterate hillbillies".
There are a lot of modern-day conflicts that seem intractable now which I'd love to see receded into history so completely a hundred years from now. Today's regional wars, ethnic cleansings, persecutions of minorities and genocidal dictatorships will be looked at then by a non-comprehending public wondering "why didn't anybody call the police?" I'm looking forward to their descendants eager to prove to the world at large that they are not some hicks from a backward region left behind by civilization.
Which leaves us with some interesting questions. Who are the Hatfields and McCoys of today? And who is calling the police?