Column: Kinston was built on nicotine and polyester

There have been stories, testimonials and a few fisticuffs that have come about because of Kinston's new All-America City title. Some folks think it's a good thing, some folks think it's a bad thing, and some folks - like myself - could give a tinker's cuss.

The bottom line is that no tax money was used to fund the trip to Tampa, so if it was a waste of time, at least it wasn't a waste of taxpayer money. If this All-America city title sparks some kind of Kinstonian renaissance, then the folks that spearheaded the All-America movement should be hailed as geniuses.

But until history has time to digest what has happened, there is no need to spend a large amount of time pointing fingers or patting backs - time takes time, so just sit back and see what happens.

As I remember it, the two mainstays of the Kinston economy when I was growing up were tobacco and DuPont. I grew up working on a tobacco farm, and in the days before bulk barns, every so often there would be a day off.

Occasionally - on those days off - I would ride to Kinston with my granddaddy and uncles to sell tobacco at Knott's Warehouse. If the tobacco sold for a good price, we'd stop and get a hamburger on the way home. If the tobacco sold for a great price, we'd go nuts and get a $5 steak at the Western Steer that used to operate near LCC.

Like it or not, tobacco farmers built this town. If you could go back in time and subtract tobacco from the equation, then Kinston would be nothing more than a pit stop between Raleigh and the beach; or has that already happened?

I mean, there used to be a tobacco leaf on the entrance to the mall! I remember seeing politicians court farmers with promises of "We'll look out for y'all in Raleigh!"

Nothing makes me angrier than seeing a Yankee lie with a fake Southern accent.

As a side note, please don't waste your time and mine by writing to tell me how awful cigarettes are - anybody that doesn't know cigarettes are bad for them in this day and age shouldn't be allowed to drive a car, vote or procreate. Fried chicken and women can be bad for you too, but - good grief - could you imagine life without either one?

The other pillar of Kinston's economic glory days was DuPont. There is no telling how many houses, cars and educations were bought with money earned by workers at DuPont. The downside is that folks who went to work at DuPont straight out of high school were in a bit of a pickle when the plant started laying workers off like a bodily function about a decade ago.

I worked out there briefly, and to this day I'm not really sure what they were manufacturing while I was there. Some say it was kevlar, some say it was the white stuff that goes in Twinkies; either way, the nutritional value is about the same.

After this country started treating farmers like rented mules, DuPont was the last bastion of non-governmental solid employment in this town. I saw many hardworking men have to give up farming and go to work at DuPont, only to see DuPont shrivel down to almost nothing.

A couple of large businesses have announced plans to bring loads of jobs to Kinston and we're all waiting with bated breath to see if it actually happens. All America city or not, tobacco and DuPont must be replaced before any kind of tangible recovery is going to take place.

Jon Dawson can be reached at (252) 559-1083 or at jdawson@freedomenc.com. Check out Jon's blog at http://jdawson.encblogs.com.