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Who is Union?

If you listen to some news stations and read certain newspapers, studies, and online articles, you may believe that Union County is one of the poorest, most uneducated, drug ridden towns in South Carolina.  They even will often share statistics that support their claims.  I'm not saying that any of these people are lying when they share this info.  But I will state that being a numbers guy who has spent a ton of time doing calculations for many organizations, that numbers don't lie, but they can be calculated and presented in such a way that benefits one party more than another.

Numbers don't always paint the whole picture.  No, Union's test scores may not be the highest.  But some places manipulate (that's such an ugly word) their SAT scores by only allowing their smartest students to take it.  Union County Schools prepared me to score the necessary SAT score by my senior year to earn a hefty scholarship by allowing me to take it in the 7th grade for the first time.  Did that hurt our scores?  I'm sure.  But did it help the students like me who got a taste of the test that early?  Absolutely!

Do we have a drug problem in Union?  Certainly.  Any drugs is a problem.  I don't know the stats for Union but it's not just here.  CVS has just announced a plan to help combat opioid abuse.  They are a national pharmacy chain so I'm pretty sure that our drug problem in Union isn't the cause of that decision.  So yes, drugs are a problem, and we need to combat it, but it's not just here.

Are we a poor town?  Heck, the statistics sometimes say we are.  But when there is a need, Union has always gone above and beyond.  This poor town raised (if I remember right) over $250,000 to build a baseball field for the Miracle League so that special needs children, men, and women would have a place to play ball.  I've seen numerous smaller fundraisers for children and families in need that have raised more than enough when something tragic has happened.  Are we poor?  According to the studies apparently so.  But according to the results, I don't believe so.

So who is Union?  It's not a perfect town.  We have crime, corruption, and other issues.  But we are a town that today many people are wearing blue for a teenage girl having surgery for a brain tumor.  Some of us don't even know her personally.  We are a town that with everything trying to divide this country always comes together in times of need; to give, to support, to simply wear a color to show that we care about the people in our community.  We have things in our history that we are not, nor should be, proud of.  But they are no less part of our history.  That does not make them part of our future.  Union is my hometown.  It has given more to me than I have to it, but I hope to make it a better place for others today and in the future.
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