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In this space we periodically lament the knee-jerk decision by outsiders to paint our area with the broad brush of “coal country,” where residents endure “hard scrabble” lives by being “scrappy” in struggling to shed the shackles of corrupt Anthracite robber barons who ruthlessly enriched themselves on the backs of their underpaid, mistreated workers.
Throw in talk of crime families infiltrating business and politics, and it sounds like a history no one could ever overcome — which is often how any problems or failures in our turf get explained.
Of course past can be prologue, as the saying goes, and only a fool would dismiss the influence of the area’s mining scars over the decades. But a few points seem to routinely be ignored.
First, coal hasn’t been King here for well over half a century. We really have moved on. While plenty of residents can still speak of ancestors who worked the mines, there are precious few living here today who had any direct work in deep-shaft coal mining.
Second, worker oppression by company owners during the industrialization of the region (and the country) was hardly exclusive to the coal barons. See, for example, the early days of the garment and railroad industries, to name just two.
Third, and most important, we have an abundance of stories about those born and/or raised here who succeeded spectacularly, often right in their home county, but also around the country. And many of them give back to the place that helped make them who they are.
The most recent example: the Ismail brothers Raghib and Qadry, better known by their football monikers of “Rocket” and “The Missile.” The two played a combined 19 seasons in the National Football League, and could easily have decided never to look back. After all, if the sins of mining magnates decades ago still taint our area as darkly as some would have us believe,why would they return.
Yet there they were on the front page of Sunday’s paper, grinning with Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown in the gymnasium of Wilkes-Barre Area High School, accepting a “key to the city.”
Yes, the Wilkes-Barre “key” was presented in a school built in Plains Township, but that’s a silly nit to pick. Indeed, one could argue the school — built despite strong and well-argued opposition — represents the success in leaving the Anthracite age behind us. The state-of-the-art education complex replaced high schools erected during the reign of King Coal.
“They’re special people that came through the city and grew up in the city and matured into wonderful athletes. But also, more important than that, wonderful men,” Brown said of the Ismail brothers. “And every day they give back to people that need their help.”
In town for their induction into the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame, the brothers took time to talk with students about their own experiences growing up and making it, literally, to the big league. And they point out they are among many who have risen from the region to great heights.
“To be able to go in (the Hall of Fame) together is really special,” Qadry said. “To be a part of the pantheon of the greats that have come through here, it’s humbling, it’s remarkable, and it’s a great honor.”
Our region has produced standouts in almost any field you can think of: astronauts, technological innovators, business leaders, politicians, entertainers, athletes and much more. Our history may have been carved in coal, but our present and future clearly are not.