The Voters of Appalachia …

Newsweek ^ | July 7-14, 2008 | Steve Tuttle

[forkinsocket]

"Hick." "Hillbilly." "Redneck." "Inbred." "Cracker." "Ridge Runner." I heard and self-effacingly used them all when I left the mountains of Appalachia to attend college in the great metropolis of Williamsburg, Va., in the '80s. I was mercilessly ribbed as a rube when I brought along my sky-blue JCPenney suit—with reversible vest—and my stack of Willie and Waylon albums, and entered a world that was as foreign to me as I must have seemed to my fancy William & Mary roommates from the private schools. Imagine my surprise at their surprise when, thinking nothing of it, I casually mentioned that I missed my mom's home-cooked squirrel.

Well, look who's laughing now. In this strangest of political seasons, Appalachia, the last forgotten place in America, suddenly matters. Never mind Florida and Michigan. In a close election come November, the difference between President McCain and President Obama could come down to me and my people: a bunch of ornery, racist, coal-minin', banjo-pickin', Scots-Irish hillbillies clinging to our guns and religion on the side of some Godforsaken, moonshine-soaked ridge in West Virginia. The Democrats comically pandered to all these stereotypes during this spring's primaries, when the 23 million people of Appalachia—that 1,000-mile mountainous stretch from southern New York to the middle of Alabama—briefly hijacked the presidential race. Scrounging for every last vote, the candidates went out of their way to look country. Hillary got all twangy. Barack tasted beer.

It was fun to watch them make fools of themselves. It was also a little depressing. Taking in the coverage, I was struck by how clueless people still are—and this goes double for presidential contenders—about this vast chunk of the country. If they think about it at all, it's not as a real place where actual people live actual lives.

[bert]

I think that many Democrats in South west Virginia and East Tennessee, including the union type, have rationalized Hussein to be a Muslim. They won't vote for a Black man but being good Democrats won't discriminate because of race. They therefore discriminate on religion.

[alicewonders]

Thanks for the info. Can you tell me how far that is from the Kentucky border? Around the Jenkins, Ky/Pound, Va area? That’s where some of my family lived. I would like to know where Ramage is, I never knew my great-grandmother & I think that is where she was from.

[USN40VET]

Alicewonders:

It is approximately 50 miles or so from Ramage in Boone County WV to the KY border with WV at Williamson. It is Pike County KY when you cross the border. Jenkins KY is about 100 to 110 miles from Ramage WV, driving through Williamson and Pikeville KY. This is Hatfield and McCoy country!

If you have ancestors from anywhere in the SW VA, E KY, or S WV area, I have access to a huge gen database which one of my cousins maintains; it probably has over 100K individuals listed. If you are interested, and you want to me to look up some surnames, I would be pleased to help. Alternately, I could arrange for you to get access to the database. More than likely, if your great grandmother lived in the Ramage area, there will be info available.

[jamndad5]

“Waters is right: would an elected official make a joke that coarse in public about any other group of Americans?”

Does the phrase “White N******” ring a bell?