JUDY WOODRUFF: But first: how
last year's election results
shook up one West Virginia
town and how the reverberations
continue to sow division.
Hari Sreenivasan
has more on that.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Buckhannon
is a town with a population
of less than 6,000.
It's a deeply conservative
place with a long
history tied to coal.
Its mayor calls it the most
Trumpian place in America.
But Buckhannon is also
where a growing group of
women are finding their
voice through protest
and where speaking up has
angered some people, including
the men in their lives.
Our Elizabeth Flock has
published a deep look
at these divisions and
the women on the front
lines.
It sounds like a tough
climate to protest Trump.
ELIZABETH FLOCK: Absolutely.
I think it's very isolating for
a lot of the women in the town.
They are just about 70 women
in a town of 6,000, and most
of the town doesn't agree
with them.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And so how
does the town respond when
they see these women picketing
policies of the
Trump administration?
ELIZABETH FLOCK: Not well.
They have gotten a lot
of pushback from the
town, from everyone from
the local fraternity
brothers at the nearby college,
to their husbands, to their
neighbors, to people at the high
school,.
Some of their kids have
been made fun of for
the women protesting.
Other women go home at night
and their husbands get after
them for appearing on the front
page with a protest sign.
So, for them, I think
it's a constant struggle
to keep protesting, in
light of the reaction
that they are getting.
HARI SREENIVASAN: As you point
out, a lot of these women
were not engaged in this way
before this election.
ELIZABETH FLOCK: Absolutely not.
Most of them told me the only
political participation they had
up until this point was voting.
Most of them had never
held a protest sign.
This was very new to them.
I think what is interesting is,
this wasn't an organized thing.
A lot of these women just
decided individually that after
the election they wanted to do
something, they wanted
to go out and protest.
They went to the county -- in
front of the county Courthouse
and held a sign, and they
found that there were
other women there
doing the same thing.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And, as
you point out, their protests
are met with counterprotests.
What is that like?
ELIZABETH FLOCK: Well, the most
striking example was after the
announcement of the proposed
travel ban, when the
women did a march at
the county courthouse,
and a number of trucks
showed up in counterprotest,
mostly men, members of
the local fraternity
from the nearby college
and other locals, and
basically spewed smoke at the
women as they were marching.
They were enveloped in a
huge cloud of black smoke,
dropped firecrackers.
It was a scary scene in which
a lot of the women tried not
to run or scream and give
the men the reaction
that they wanted.
HARI SREENIVASAN: What are
the actions that these women
are taking that they hope have
long-term consequences?
ELIZABETH FLOCK: So, obviously
showing up in the streets with
posters and sort of telling
the town of Buckhannon
that we are here and not
everyone agrees with you.
They are lobbying
local representatives.
One of the women held a town
hall with the Republican --
for the Republican senator,
who didn't show up.
So, she held this town hall
anyway to an empty chair.
And a lot of them are traveling
to meet with other -- they
are part of the Indivisible
group.
And they're traveling to
meet other Indivisible
groups, which is a liberal
anti-Trump grassroots
organization.
And so they are sort
of connecting the dots
with other grassroots
progressive organizations
that are fighting
against Trump's policies
around the country.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And speaking
of around the country, is
this a microcosm of something
that is happening elsewhere?
ELIZABETH FLOCK: I do
think this -- Buckhannon
is -- it's one small town
where this is happening,
but there are a lot of
indications that there
are women who are doing
this across the country.
You know, 11,000 women are
considering running for office
for the first time, according to
EMILY's List, after
Trump's election.
Obviously, the women's march
was a huge show of interest
by women in participating.
And the Indivisible
groups have been spreading
across the country.
I think there's
6,000 of them now.
And after the story came out,
a lot of women from rural
areas wrote and said that, this
really resonated with me and
this is what is going on in our
town as well, in Pennsylvania,
in Ohio, across Appalachia,
and basically said
we're also protesting.
It is really hard for us here.
It is really isolating, because
people don't agree with us,
and we're doing it anyway.
HARI SREENIVASAN:
Plenty to follow up on.
Liz Flock, thanks
for joining us.
ELIZABETH FLOCK: Thank you.