The Blue People of Kentucky

When the “Pandemic of 2020” hit I was reading “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.”  The book is a story about a young woman who lived in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1930s.  I enjoy historically based novels because I can see into a world different from my own.  This book also appealed to me because it was about the extreme poverty of an area of our nation that is still among the most poverty-stricken.  Troublesome Creek is a real place and is close to where our son is a missionary and pastor. 

While reading during our self-quarantine, the murder of George Floyd brought the curse of racism to the tipping point for an awakening to a lot of fuzzy-eyed white folks like myself.  Racism is deplorable; however, it was easily set on the outside of my personal wall for emotional protection.  I saw it, I grieved for those who had to endure it, but I did nothing to eradicate it.  I dealt with it in sermons over the years but still, looking back, I was more tolerant of the scourge than corrective.

The story is about Cussy Mary Carter.  She lives with her father and together they mourn the loss of her mother and his wife.  He is a coal miner.  She, still in her teens, is one of President Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians.  They lived in a one room cabin away from downtown Troublesome Creek.  And their skin color is blue.  They are descendants of the “Blue Fugates of Kentucky.”  This is a real-life condition, however, rarely seen these days.  The last known “blue” lived in Hazard, KY just forty-five minutes from our son.  Look it up.  It is a genetic blood disorder called “Methemoglobinemia.”

Cussy’s doctor found a medication which would temporarily change her skin color to a normal Caucasian pink. The downside was the medication caused her to vomit.  What is interesting to me is that the people of Troublesome Creek did not change the way they treated Cussy based on her skin color.  She was a social outcast regardless of her skin color.  Out on her weekly librarian circuits, the people she served adjusted to her color, accepted her, and honored her for who she was.  Her caring service to them became her identity.  She became known for who she was, not for her appearance.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, the New Testament is clear, the intention of our Creator and our Savior is that we make Him known by caring about the living conditions of the folks around us. Here is a good place to start: Look at every person you pass in the eye, smile, and give them a cheery greeting.

It does not matter what color your skin is, or why. Every one of us likes to be noticed, acknowledged, and cared about.  Yes, you will meet and greet some angry toads but, as I have heard said, “Don’t pay them no never mind.”  You did your best to lift their day.  There is another needy human coming your way right behind the toad.

Photo – A view outside the front door of a condominium we rented in Destin, FL.