Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - The image of barefoot mountain hillbillies has made many Arkansans cringe for decades.
But it's a hard one to shake -- even though the state produced a two-term president in Bill Clinton, a famous author in John Grisham, and one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs in Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
Arkansas' hillbilly image resonates into 21st century - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/arkansas-hillbilly-image-resonates-21st-century-130617737.html - broken link)
Some of the scariest, trashiest, missing-a-chromosome people I've seen come out of hills have been right here in far Northern California. A trip to the local Wal-mart when they come down to shop can be an eye-opening experience. I never saw anyone like them when visiting family in rural areas of Northern Arkansas. Everyone there was so clean-cut and normal.
Some of the scariest, trashiest, missing-a-chromosome people I've seen come out of hills have been right here in far Northern California. A trip to the local Wal-mart when they come down to shop can be an eye-opening experience. I never saw anyone like them when visiting family in rural areas of Northern Arkansas. Everyone there was so clean-cut and normal.
Yeah, I was going to make a comment and than I saw that you were already located in Oroville. I've got three generations of my family that lived around Oroville although most passed on or moved away, and still got an uncle and cousin around there.
As my grandpa used to say, "Nothin' but Okies out in there Gridley and Palermo". And then you've got the crazy hillbillies out in the foothills towards Feather Falls--either paranoid pot growers or wild backwood types. Once almost got shot at hiking in that area, when we wandered too close to someone's "organic farm". Last time I visited my family there was a free Foghat concert down at the Feather Falls Indian casino--a whole crowd of 'em came down from the boonies, looked like a cross between Lil' Abner and a biker ralley--and probably had about two full sets of teeth in the whole place.
On the other hands when I've driven around the hills and mountains of the South, people seemed pretty easy going and polite--at least comparatively.
It’s simply that the south in general, not just Arkansas that has an image like this. I don’t think that this image will evaporate even into the 22nd century.
It’s simply that the south in general, not just Arkansas that has an image like this. I don’t think that this image will evaporate even into the 22nd century.
Yeah, I was going to make a comment and than I saw that you were already located in Oroville. I've got three generations of my family that lived around Oroville although most passed on or moved away, and still got an uncle and cousin around there.
As my grandpa used to say, "Nothin' but Okies out in there Gridley and Palermo". And then you've got the crazy hillbillies out in the foothills towards Feather Falls--either paranoid pot growers or wild backwood types. Once almost got shot at hiking in that area, when we wandered too close to someone's "organic farm". Last time I visited my family there was a free Foghat concert down at the Feather Falls Indian casino--a whole crowd of 'em came down from the boonies, looked like a cross between Lil' Abner and a biker ralley--and probably had about two full sets of teeth in the whole place.
On the other hands when I've driven around the hills and mountains of the South, people seemed pretty easy going and polite--at least comparatively.
Someone who knows what I'm talking about! My mom was saying the other day she didn't know why all the old men around here look like some "49er" that walked through a time warp. Dirty clothes, old miner's hat and a long, ugly beard. Definitely an odd part of California that few know about.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,410 posts, read 6,325,019 times
Reputation: 6246
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus
Yeah, I was going to make a comment and than I saw that you were already located in Oroville. I've got three generations of my family that lived around Oroville although most passed on or moved away, and still got an uncle and cousin around there.
As my grandpa used to say, "Nothin' but Okies out in there Gridley and Palermo". And then you've got the crazy hillbillies out in the foothills towards Feather Falls--either paranoid pot growers or wild backwood types. Once almost got shot at hiking in that area, when we wandered too close to someone's "organic farm". Last time I visited my family there was a free Foghat concert down at the Feather Falls Indian casino--a whole crowd of 'em came down from the boonies, looked like a cross between Lil' Abner and a biker ralley--and probably had about two full sets of teeth in the whole place.
On the other hands when I've driven around the hills and mountains of the South, people seemed pretty easy going and polite--at least comparatively.
I believe it. The real nasty more stereotypical hillbillies actually tend to come from places outside of the south.
The northeast and the Pacific coast in particular.
And I guarantee a hillbilly from New York is gonna be far worse than one from Arkansas these days. I know from experience. I bet the same goes for California.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My mom was saying the other day she didn't know why all the old men around here look like some "49er" that walked through a time warp. Dirty clothes, old miner's hat and a long, ugly beard. Definitely an odd part of California that few know about.
