Hostile to West Virginians (Richmond, Springfield: houses, neighborhoods, school)

[steve75]

I never understood why Virginians are so hostile to West Virginians. I am from originally from Wheeling, WV, in the northern panhandle. I moved to Richmond two years ago for a better job. When I mentioned I was born in West Virginia, I was asked if owned a pair of shoes and if I had all my teeth. I also hear follow co-workers talk about West Virginia in a bad light. I lived in Pennsylvania for a couple of years and I was never treated like that. Is Virginia still bitter because West Virginia went Union during the Civil War? I don't understand the bitterness since we were one state at one time. Also, when people are making fun of Appalachia, they are making fun of Virginia too.

[GradVT06]

People make fun of WV people because they are who they are. People from WV are viewed as poor hill billy, meth using, fat slobs who are missing their teeth, wear leather mocassins and daniel boone hats, etc- basically the WVU 'Eer's mascot. Naturally, as a Hokie we make fun of dislike people from WV anyway. The fact that WV is known as the armpit and hillbilly capital of the United States doesn't help. Just the truth coming from a Virginian. Again, I"m not hostile, but I'll certainly make fun you/joke around.

[VT Hokie 2007]

I don't think most people have any idea about West Virginia/Virginia during the Civil War. But I will sort of agree with GradVT06--a lot of people see West Virginia University and its fans as the most classless people in the U.S. WVU has made bitter enemies with Virginia Tech, the University of Maryland - College Park, and the University of Pittsburgh, and really almost any other group of fans the Mountaineers come into contact with. Unfortunately, the psychotic hill-billies that comprise West Virginia University give the entire state a bad name.

HOWEVER, I have thoroughly enjoyed my trips to the STATE of West Virginia (and especially my whitewater rafting trips) and have met many fine people there. It really is a beautiful state and I love Marshall University.

[htlong]

why doesnt wv have any driveby shootings?
because all the cars on blocks and the houses are on wheels!!!!

ok ok its a joke....but heck i came from ohio and 3/4 of the pop. was transplanted west virginians...the wva 3 r's were reading , writing, and route 77 north.......lol

[olive]

I don't know why they are so hostile either. I am from the midwest and haven't been teased about it I guess since no one out here knows anything about Oklahoma or Kansas but I have noticed Virginians saying weird stuff about WV, like it's so country or something. I've cruised around VA and found some honky-tonk; I mean every state has some of that. When I lived in OK, I didn't hear much about WV except for John Denver's "Country Roads." Anyway, I don't know why Virginians think their state is so great.

[paintballer1708]

Originally Posted by htlong
why doesnt wv have any driveby shootings?
because all the cars on blocks and the houses are on wheels!!!!

ok ok its a joke....but heck i came from ohio and 3/4 of the pop. was transplanted west virginians...the wva 3 r's were reading , writing, and route 77 north.......lol

LOL good one. There is a big population of West Virginians living here in Ohio. Most of them graduates from highschool and college for a better job oppurtunity. Esp in the panhandle region. They leave places like Wheeling and Weirton for Columbus and Cincinnati. I work with a lot of people from Charelston that have moved up here to Cleveland. They also come for their shopping and entertainment needs. Around Youngstown, not far from the panhandle region, there are a lot of cars from WV in the suburbs of Canfield, Boardman and Poland. WV is really a nice state. The mountians, the people are friendly, overall its a nice state. Just there are certain things that overshawdow it. The roads are horrible. We stopped in Virginia on our way home, because the widing roads and the huge dropoffs were everywhere.

[rubytue]

ok, here is one thing that always got to me about WV (and I guess you could say it is related to the civil war). Driving around the backroads (like up to Snowshoe), you would see all these houses and cars with large rebel flags. Ignoring all the symbolism about the rebal flag in general, it makes you want to scream "Do you know why ya'll are in WEST Virginia?!"

But aside from that, I *love* the land WV, and the people I've encountered there have always been nice. Especially when I turn on a little of my old Tennessee twang.

[dullnboring]

I have to echo the fact that I don't think that the majority of Virginians talking trash about West Virginia are doing so out of an old Civil War rivalry. I guess an argument could be made though that for whatever reason, that instigated a general rivalry between the two states with Virginians making fun of West Virginians, that it just sort of became second nature over the years, if that makes any sense.

Anyways, I haven't heard of any outwardly hostile behavior towards West Virginians in Virginia, but more rather, gentle ribbing. Granted, this sort of teasing may come across as much more offensive if you are actually from West Virginia, particularly if you're hearing it all the time, but I don't think people mean to be offensive about it and just think of their joking around as just that, joking.

I don't think this is really very different however from any number of somewhat playful regional rivalries. People in New York make jokes about New Jersey and it's people all the time, as do people from many other neighboring states and regions, even on a much smaller scale between cities and neighborhoods. West Virginia is sort of the default state to make fun of in Virginia. If you're going to go for a joke about a state being backwards, the joke has more of an effect if the audience has experience with the place (in this instance) that the joke is making fun of. Making a joke about Nebraskans won't get the same laugh in Virginia as it would in neighboring Iowa where they'd have had experiences with Nebraskans and the joke would be more relatable. I'm not sure if I explained that well, but basically, West Virginia's proximity to Virginia is what makes it the butt of so many jokes here.

I think West Virginia bashing is probably strongest in Virginia, particularly in more urban cosmopolitan areas, but it's certainly not confined to it. As unfair as it may be, West Virginia does sort of have a national reputation as being a fairly "hickish" state. I can recall hearing innumerable amounts of jokes on late night shows several years ago when that man in West Virginia won that massive lottery (Powerball?). I think a lot of it is due to the fact that West Virginia, like several other states that tend to be the butt of people's jokes as far as being backwards and country, simply doesn't have any really large cities which gives the state a more rural and country image whether deserved or not.

Ironically, they just aired the Simpsons episode today where the Simpsons go to Shelbyville where they see a play in which Springfielders are portrayed as a bunch of dimwitted country hicks and "hooted' at by the snooty residents of Shelbyville.

[Electron]

West Virginia didn't "go union" for the War for Southern Independence. West Virginia is the ******* child of the union, created by the federal government. I am not bitter to West Virginians, Stonewall Jackson was born near Clarksburg. I have a small piece of land up near Slanesville that I don't have enough time to enjoy. Aside from every public building being named after Robert Byrd, I got no beef with y'all.

[paintballer1708]

What dullnboring said i have to agree with 110%. Depending where you live or what state your around you tend to have jokes about them. I know Ohio and Pennsylvania have been going at it for sometime. Even Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Illinois and Indiana, Wisconisn and Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, etc, etc, etc. It all depends on where you live.