It’s on days like today that my heart breaks for folks who were born and raised in Dundalk and have faced a lifetime of selective highlighting — and bashing —of the community they love and protect. They're almost always on the defensive, preparing to counteract the jokes, generalizations and accusations made about their hometown.
And though I didn't grow up in Dundalk nor have I ever lived in Dundalk proper, I find myself becoming just as sensitive as I constantly defend a community against those who choose to put it down with thoughtless statements and jokes.
In spite of the portrait painted by many media outlets, Greater Dundalk is just like any other community across this state and indeed the nation. Community residents work hard, play hard and always have a few extra bucks or hours of sweat equity to donate to a favorite cause. Sure, there’s crime and drugs and any number of negative societal problems, but I dare you to come up with a ZIP code that doesn’t have such problems.
But Greater Dundalk also has an awful lot going for it, including its historical significance, its miles and miles and miles of waterfront (including more waterfront parks and beaches than most communities have), its dedicated community organizations, churches and schools, and its reputation for being some of the most generous people when it comes to supporting a cause.
But when it comes to media coverage, it seems like the domestic violence, shootings and stabbings, drug busts and arsons always get media billing but the positives almost always get ignored.
And today, it happened again.
Dundalk’s largest single celebration, its 4th of July three-day party, kicked off yesterday when the 40th annual Heritage Fair opened at noon at Heritage Park in downtown Dundalk. The fair, begun in 1976 to help commemorate the nation’s bicentennial, is a typical summer festival with all the usual trappings: food and beverage stands, musical entertainment on three stages, community displays, carnival rides and other attractions (pig races!), and a variety of demonstrations, from Scouts pitching tents to chainsaw artists doing their thing.
Rarely does a media outlet other than The Dundalk Eagle write about these happenings. Much more important — and wealthier — communities like Towson, Catonsville and Annapolis have Independence Day events so that’s usually where “big” media goes.
So today, I was shocked to see that The Baltimore Sun bothered to send a reporter to the fair. Until I read the headline of the article: Confederate flag debated at Dundalk Heritage Fair. (I’d provide a link but I don’t want to drive traffic to the article).
The entire 600-plus-word story was about the flag being sold, with other recent hot media topics mixed in to the conversation — the church shootings in South Carolina, the Baltimore city decision to review the status of Confederate memorials and a network’s decision to stop airing reruns of “The Dukes of Hazzard” because the Confederate flag is painted on the roof of the “General Lee” car made famous by the show.
I repeat, the entire article was devoted to this topic.
The reporter who wrote the article had to walk right by (and ignore) all the wonderful, eclectic, fun things the fair has to offer.
No where did I read about the wonderful displays and information provided by the great folks at the Dundalk-Patapsco Neck Historical Society and Museum. Nor did I read about the many alumni who each year staff the Dundalk High School Alumni Association booth.
The descriptions of squealing, happy kids who rode their first carnival ride or won a little stuffed animal in a midway game? Not there.
The lifelong friends, now scattered across the country, who make it a point to return to Dundalk each year for the 4th of July? No mention.
The committee of local residents that labors all year long to stage the three-day affair with its accompanying parade and fireworks? Might as well not exist.
Volunteers who take a week of valuable and hard-earned vacation time each summer to dig holes and install fencing to enclose the fair area? Not a word.
Neighborhood volunteers staffing pizza and soda and hot dog stands to raise money for a rec council, Scout troop or church? Zilch.
The varied list of entertainment scheduled for the weekend, ranging from the General John Stricker Middle School steel drum band to the nationally known band America? Nada.
The chainsaw artist, the camping display set up by the Scouts, the general sense of community pride hanging in the fair air? Not worthy of mention.
I could go on (and on and on), but you get the picture.
As a journalist, I understand the need to go after the sexy, the controversial, the sensational, the clickable, the debatable. I also understand how editors don’t necessarily like “warm and fuzzy,” good news stories. They much prefer the controversial and wiil often browbeat reporters to find exactly that. I’ve had that argument with editors, and I’ve had my byline on articles that I wouldn’t have chosen to write.
But as a community resident, I resent the use of a celebratory event to advance a story that does nothing to bring people together and everything to drive them apart.
The fair brings people —all people — together and celebrates a community that is just a tiny piece of the nation we celebrate this weekend. We celebrate the independence of that nation and its entire history — we don’t surgically excise pieces we don’t like and we don’t concentrate on one small piece to the detriment of the whole.
The fair is intended to be a fun party for the entire family and shouldn’t be used to drive a political agenda or sell newspapers.
See you at Heritage Park!
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