On Nov. 18, Nashville News Channel 5 reporter Phil Williams delivered a breathless “exclusive investigation” into the supposed right-wing radicals targeting rural Jackson County, Tennessee, for a takeover. He claimed, “their views are not so different from the ideas espoused by the neo-Nazis and other white supremacists seen marching down Nashville streets in the past year.”
His camera crew, his drone, and even a news helicopter descended on the tiny town of Gainesboro so Phil could “speak truth to power,” as he describes his mission in his X bio. As a native Tennessean, former Nashville police officer, long-time resident of the area, and friend to several of these so-called radicals, I thought I’d offer my perspective.
Conservative Americans Moving to Conservative Towns
At the center of Williams’ article are two podcasters who decided to move to Jackson County and bought land with the Highland Rim Project, an initiative led by my friend Josh Abbotoy and his real estate company RidgeRunner. RidgeRunner’s philosophy isn’t some secret, and a quick glance at their website would’ve saved Williams months of trouble in his quest to uncover their intentions.
They aim to conserve what’s good, revitalize what’s distressed, and innovate toward a better future in small towns and rural areas of Appalachia. They connect the millions of Americans fed up with the chaos, danger, and insanity of big cities and blue states to desirable locations elsewhere. It has nothing to do with white supremacy.
While Phil thinks he’s found a story in the X feeds of people who’ve chosen the pioneer trail to rural America, he’s right that the big story in America today is about movement. There’s no stopping the Big Sort, just like there’s no stopping growth in and around Nashville, so any journalist should be looking into who’s moving to Tennessee, why, and what it will mean for local communities.
With so many Americans relocating nationwide, many red-state residents worry that large crowds of new arrivals will result in sudden changes to the established social and political order. “Don’t California my Texas” is the constant cry of those overrun in the Lonestar State. Red states could go purple — even blue — if too many leftists move in, voting for the very things that sent them packing in the first place.
Small-Town Classic American Culture
RidgeRunner views the Big Sort as an opportunity and is leaning into it. RidgeRunner recently announced its plan for an innovative yet traditional community in Gainesboro, Tennessee, a small town close to my home in Cookeville. It’s not just land and houses. RidgeRunner has already recruited four businesses to the area, including one that will bring 150 well-paying manufacturing jobs starting in 2027.
You won’t hear anything about that in Williams’ piece. Phil is happy to venture out from his blue bubble in Nashville to fearmonger among the good people of Gainesboro, but he doesn’t care about what the job market looks like in Jackson County. The pioneers do. That’s why they’re moving there. That’s why they’re bringing jobs with them.
They’re attracting good families eager to live peaceful and productive lives in well-governed communities with the traditional American, Christian small-town culture that most Americans enjoyed Americans until quite recently. Unlike other developers looking to carve up the countryside in the name of maximum profit, their project seeks to honor the history, culture, and way of life enjoyed by its native population.
Outsiders Dive-Bombing Locals with Lies
Nashville-muckraking journalist Phil assaulted the ideas and people trying to make a life for themselves in Gainesboro in a report that he claims took three months to prepare. Perhaps in another three months Phil will treat us to an actual investigative story on the bloodthirsty gangs infiltrating Tennessee’s major cities.
As Venezuelan gang soldiers set up shop in Tennessee, Phil directs his ire at a handful of American families who’ve moved in from out of state. If Tren de Aragua took over Gainesboro, you wouldn’t see Phil in Jackson County covering the story. He only showed up because it’s an excuse to despise the majority of Americans who just voted to stop listening to people like him.
In search of “local” voices to parrot his positions back to him, Phil reached out to two progressive pastors who live more than 100 miles from Gainesboro. I’d be surprised if either has ever set foot in Jackson County. The news story featured no interviews with anyone outside the Nashville area, so at the end of the day it was just another bunch of city people saying what they think of the rest of us.
Cynical Hatred of Rural Americans
Of all the outfits looking to make a buck off the Big Sort, this one is committed to improving the area, not hollowing it out like the rest. It’s run by a group of Christians operating with biblical morals. A well-organized and well-operated investment group comes to an economically depressed area of rural Tennessee to create new economic opportunities capable of revitalizing the region and raising the standard of living for its residents.
And now the journalists are suddenly showing up? To do what, exactly? Kill this development? Scare off investors? Continue to keep the poor and forgotten of Jackson County poor and forgotten? Phil finally cares about the plight of Jackson County residents now that Christian conservatives are doing something about it? Pardon my incredulity.
The simple truth is that the families joining the Highland Rim Project are good people tired of living in the grip of insanity. They seek the peace of a rural and agrarian lifestyle. They want to be surrounded by people not trying to vote away their property or commit crimes against them. Unlike Phil, they don’t look down on the people already in Jackson County, but want to be their neighbors. They want to return to the American culture of their memories. RidgeRunner is merely creating a place to do it.
We Welcome Immigrants Who Love Our Home
I’ve been asked by some of the new arrivals of the Highland Rim Project for my opinion on the influx of “foreigners” like them from out of state. I say I’m glad they’re coming. My home will be better with them here. We share a vision and goals.
The newcomers have expressed a desire to be good Tennesseans. They want to be good neighbors. They wish to observe our cultural norms, embrace our history and heroes, and reverence our culture by assimilating to it. They desire to better the lives of the average residents of the town they’re moving to, whether their new neighbors are Christians or not.
The Highland Rim of Tennessee already has good churches, a classical Christian school, and a strong homeschool cohort. It’s an area with relatively cheap land and desirable taxes. It has sweet water coming right out of the ground. It retains a culture that remembers fondly the days when everyone said “Christ is Lord” without shame.
As a “local,” it would be all too easy to resent the arrival of those who might dilute my culture, or to simply dislike them over regional differences. If you seek to move to Gainesboro and take part in this, you will be asked to become a Tennessean.
I, for one, embrace the strengthening of my hometown. I embrace its growing anti-fragility. And I have good news for Phil Williams: He need never soil his designer shoes with the sacred earth of Jackson County, Tennessee ever again. We don’t need him.