Ashton Marra (@ashtonmarra) is the digital managing editor of 100 Days in Appalachia and a teaching assistant professor in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media.
More than 2,000 instances of hate occurred in Appalachian states last year, with the highest number of crimes reported in New York, Kentucky, and Ohio.
![[Photo: Flowers and notes left at a memorial in the street where Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville, Virginia.].](https://rewirenewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/shutterstock_1079112524-800x533.jpg)