In Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945, historian Ronald Eller writes:

We know Appalachia exists because we need it to define what we are not. It is the ‘other America’ because the very idea of Appalachia convinces us of the righteousness of our own lives.

How is Appalachia constructed as the “other America,” and whose interests are served by that construction? How does Appalachia’s cultural position as the “other America” mesh with the construction of “poor white trash,” as analyzed by Newitz and Wray?