“Everyone increases their tone”: a small American village divided by Donald Trump

Berkeley Springs is a concentrate of America, tensions that agitate him. Its inhabitants crowd in the early morning at the bakery, they smrease, but now avoid pronouncing a name that tenses them: Donald Trump.

The Trump whirlwind divides more than ever into two worlds the 850 inhabitants of this village of Virginia-Western, in the east of the United States: the conservatives, anchored in the region for generations, and the progressives, from major cities to settle in the hollow of the Alates, with its green mountains with gentle slopes.

Cohabitation, calm for decades, is tense.

“Those who remained silent so far raise their voice to defend their rights, which annoys others, who raise their voice in turn. So today, everyone increases their tone, and it gets worse … until implosion, “says a bitter laugh Kate Colby, 44, owner of a small gift shop.

A large flag with LGBT+ colors is hung on one of the walls. Residents, anchored to the right of the political spectrum, want it to withdraw it.

A litigation like the country: progressives feel the president’s diatribes as attacks against the minorities as attacks, while the supporters of the Republican feel legitimized by his speech.

“Hold your tongue”

This polarization is growing in the United States, with a president who no longer pretends to attack, for his second mandate, the balance of powers and his political adversaries.

Donald Trump “does the sacred good job to polarize everything. With him, it is: you are on my side, or go ahead! ”, Regrets Nicole Harris, 47 years old.

She moved from her native Oregon to open guest rooms on the heights of Berkeley Springs, in northern Virginia-Western, Rural and Industrial Region where almost 90% of voters chose Donald Trump at the last presidential.

So to avoid sparks, it’s motus and mouth sewn. No political discussions with her neighbors, whom she describes as “very trades“, Nor with its customers,” so as not to harm business “.

Lower in the valley, Beth Curtin works in one of the beautiful brick houses in the city center, dotted with art shops, cafes and restaurants. All her life lies there, in this jumble of carefully sorted antiques, which she has managed for 36 years.

Many of his friends are conservative, dedicated to Trump. Not her.

“It’s a small village, we meet all the time. It’s not like in big cities where you can only attend people with the same opinions. Here, we go to the same restaurants, the same supermarkets … But as it is important to get along with everyone, I try to hold my tongue, “sighs the grandmother in a posed voice.

Boycott

A stone’s throw away, God, family, individual freedom, America by Scott Wetzel. The 62 -year -old man, dry body and lively look, tells in a coffee swept by air conditioning his childhood on the farm and a working life in landscaping, then construction.

For him, the Democrats are “Communists” who threaten his way of thinking.

“When I tell them about freedom, their idea is to dictate me how to live. That’s not, freedom. They don’t understand, but nothing can be done. It is anchored in their mind, ”says the retiree, standing behind the counter.

“If they want to debit their bullshit … let them do it. But I will not listen to them, ”continues Scott Wetzel.

In early July, residents demonstrated in the streets of Berkeley Springs against the “big and beautiful law” of Donald Trump, when, a stone’s throw away, a truck sold caps in his effigy.

Many people boycott businesses whose owners have opposite opinions, such as Beth, the manager of the antiques store, who does not want to give his money “to people who have these” ultra -conservative ideas.

“It has to change, we cannot continue like this. We have to come back to a world where people live quietly side by side, like before Trump, “says Kate Colby in her gift store.

On the balcony of his elegant house, the mayor, Greg Schene, calms the spirits.

Berkeley Springs, “It’s a real melting pot”, admits the native of Baltimore. But “I think we must always try to find an in-between,” asserts, conciliator and smiling, the elected official who salutes passers-by.