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Could it be, could this simple blog be a learning tool to remove some of the stereotype that has given our country a sick laugh for generations...could a future generation, like the Aussies who descend from prison stock and the Pitcarian Islanders who descend from mutineers, perhaps find a solace and pride in being descendants from the mountain people? Time will tell...
I'm glad the old values are still here and I thank you, WVUPharm for recommending honest discourse...education reaps the harvest of knowledge...and with that, truth and honest opinion...something our country is beginning to thirst after...the pendulum is beginning to swing in the other direction...
...another good book I recommend. Just finished it. After reading this one and the Jim Webb book, I'm feeling damned proud of my hilljack heritage.
He recently wrote a very good article for The Chronicle, "They Came Down From These Hills and Made History."You can read it here.
Saw a real good show on History Channel, Sunday I think. It was titled "Hillbilles", and hosted by Bill Ray Cyrus. It was a pretty good presentation on the area, where the people came from, and what makes them what they are. I was pretty happy to see they were, and still are, very much against government intervention.
~Mark
I recommmend "The Appalchians", it was a series on public television and is available from Amazon.com. Wonderful film about the history, the people, and the music.
Another good read is "When Miners March" written by Bill Blizzard Jr. His father was the "general" of the miners during the battle on Blair Mountain. It's a great history lesson and one can learn a lot about the power wielded by politicians and corrupt officials during that era and get perspective on how that same power and corruption exists within our state today. I read the book twice and then gave it to my girlfriend's 12 year old Grand Daughter. I want her to know the real history of her state, not the canned, watered down version I was taught as a kid. I wonder how many teachers in this state are even remotely aware of that part of our history or just choose to treat it as a "labor issue" not worth mentioning?? Maybe if our young folks in West Virginia knew the truth about the past they would take an interest in changing the future.
I always wondered why West Virginia is always mentioned when it comes to Appalachia though. I am referring mainly to the negative stereotypes. The region spans a large area of the eastern US. In the numerical sense, Pennsylvania has the most residents in Appalachia, but rarely do you hear Pennsylvania hillbilly jokes. (I've heard it called "Pennsyltucky" before, but the jokes about West Virginia are more widespead.)
I always wondered why West Virginia is always mentioned when it comes to Appalachia though. I am referring mainly to the negative stereotypes. The region spans a large area of the eastern US. In the numerical sense, Pennsylvania has the most residents in Appalachia, but rarely do you hear Pennsylvania hillbilly jokes. (I've heard it called "Pennsyltucky" before, but the jokes about West Virginia are more widespead.)
WV is the only state that is completely in Appalachia. There is no "ultra-urban" core like Philly, Louisville, Tidewater, Raleigh, Nashville, or Atlanta to offset the mindset that it's all backwoods nothingness, either.
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