Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This editorial reports on a readers' poll conducted by the Robesonian.  Of the 52 respondents (a higher number of respondents that such polls usually generate), 60% said they believe that Hatcher, and the publicity he generates, hurt the county's efforts to recruit industry.  On the one hand, the editorial asserts that county residents are “finally understanding him for what he is: A loudmouth media hound with almost no remaining supporters who also happens to be a convicted felon and accused murderer.”  

The editorial also recognizes another perspective: “Hatcher is an easy scapegoat anytime an industry picks somewhere else over here to build a plant.”   The editorial asserts that far more damaging to the county than Hatcher's comments and behaviors is the fact that elected officials still operate under “good-old-boy politics,” assigning jobs according to “who you know, not what you know” and making race a major factor in their decisions.