Here, the textile and furniture factories that powered the economy mostly shut down or moved overseas by the 1990s, and many blame the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement. Patrick County’s only hospital went out of business a few years ago. During the coronavirus pandemic, students had to sit outside empty school buildings to use the WiFi because they didn’t have broadband at home. Now the state is requiring a new name for Patrick Henry Community College — which serves the counties of Patrick and Henry — to avoid honoring the slave-owning Founding Father.

Source: Washington Post June 25, 2021 09:56 UTC