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Obviously you have never been to back woods tennessee or west virginia. The people from Deliverance are my mom's neighbors! We are from Ft. Wayne, IN and my mom and brother moved to Northeastern Tennessee about 12 years ago, and while most of the people are nice and friendly, my mom lives at the top of a mountain and the people around her are scary at best if you don't know them, and uncomfortable when you do. Maybe not inbred, but it's definately a place not to go unless you know someone. I wouldn't want to break down there.
As with my earlier response to this post, I'm not sure which user you're addressing. I'm thinking this might be directed at me, since it came immediately after one of my posts. If you're thinking I haven't seen any of these "scary" places because I've lived most of my life in suburbs, think again. Not to go into my life story, but I've seen more of the underbelly--urban and rural--than most people whose backgrounds are middle-class suburban. I do appreciate the fact that in the post I've quoted here you did make a point of saying you're not so sure the whole inbreeding thing applies to the area you're talking about. In general, though, to judge from many of the posts on this thread, I think people who view rural or small-town areas where the buildings are gritty, the local folks have accents unfamiliar to them, and guys drive pickup trucks and wear jeans and plaid shirts are the ones who need to put down their lattes long enough to get out and actually see some of these places, for real, not just as they pass through on their way to some vacation spot. In other words, I'm guessing that a lot of people who find these places scary are leading kind of sheltered lives.
2 days ago i passed by this town in New Jersey called Salem......that was scary!!!!! it was scarier than anything i've seen in the south before
Well, if you want to knock the posts by MartinsburgGuy, I do have to admit that no one else on here has used the characters on a television show (a comedy spoof at that) as evidence of what rural folks supposedly are like in real life. For that matter, even if you're so out of touch as to take a television show seriously, The Beverly Hillbillies isn't even a great example of a show that should make you see hillbillies as scary. The show portrays the Clampetts as simple but decent salt-of-the-earth folks, in contradistinction to slippery, pretentious, conniving city people.
However, aside from the television reference, I wouldn't criticize MGuy too much for these posts. The sad truth is that MartinsbugGuy's posts aren't really any different from a lot of others on here.
It is true, though, that Mguy seems to emphasize the South. Interesting that Dixieodwo, in the post quoted, mentions a place in NJ. To the credit of a number of users on here, if they're going to keep up with this knocking down of rural folk, at least they give examples of areas outside the South, so not everyone on here carries all the stereotypes to the most narrow-minded extreme. I still have a problem with the degree of stereotyping of rural folk that has occurred here, but I will say that the most peculiar local rural culture I've ever been familiar with was another place not in the South. That was an area in western Massachusetts. Some strange individuals around there, and a population that was generally quite provincial. Wouldn't say I'd be scared to break down there, though.
The term 'redneck' or 'hillbillies' and their 'culture' is not totally concentrated in the south.
The term' Hillbilly' is usually geographically located from Western PA- through western MD, West Virginia, western Virginia, extreme South eastern Ohio, eastern KY and TN- western North Carolina, western South Carolina, into northern Alabama, The Ozarks and northern Georgia. Ethnically, these folks tend to be of Scot-Irish ancestry. Senator Jim Webb of Virginia is Scot Irish and has attempted to guide Senator Obama into communicating with this population.
Rednecks can exist in most states. Here in Connecticut there are rednecks- though they are small in number. We have no 'hillbillies' here.
Both 'Rednecks' and 'Hillbillies' tend to be of Scot Irish ancestry in the Appalachians- in other location like the Ozarks their ethnic composition may be slightly different.
Last edited by skytrekker; 06-10-2008 at 06:37 AM..
The term 'redneck' or 'hillbillies' and their 'culture' is not totally concentrated in the south.
The term' Hillbilly' is usually geographically located from Western PA- through western MD, West Virginia, western Virginia, extreme South eastern Ohio, eastern KY and TN- western North Carolina, western South Carolina, into northern Alabama, The Ozarks and northern Georgia. Ethnically, these folks tend to be of Scot-Irish ancestry. Senator Jim Webb of Virginia is Scot Irish and has attempted to guide Senator Obama into communicating with this population.
Rednecks can exist in most states. Here in Connecticut there are rednecks- though they are small in number. We have no 'hillbillies' here.
Both 'Rednecks' and 'Hillbillies' tend to be of Scot Irish ancestry in the Appalachians- in other location like the Ozarks their ethnic composition may be slightly different.
Us Ozarks hillbillies are typically of Scots-Irish descent too and our families have been on these fine shores far longer than most. Every major line in my family has been here since well before the revolution. Most of our families came to the Ozarks because lands were granted in Arkansas to soldiers who fought in the War of 1812.
Unfortunately , the term " hillbilly" has become more than a historical reference. The hill and mountain people are a proud bunch, with very independent ways. Survival is what made them the way they are.
Today , a redneck , or a hillbilly , has taken on a stereotype , and , in many ways , a negative one , for people who may live anywhere in the world........... my neck might be red cause I toil in the fields all day, helping to feeding the starving world , or , I live up some mountain hollow in a makeshift shack , to survive ,......whatever the case , I am a part of the American landscape , the good , the bad , and the ugly........
I'm not on the term so much but at the fact that somebody said Southerners have a "retarded" accent.
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it was scarier than anything i've seen in the south before