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 … Continue reading →

In “Digging in the Trash,” Appalachian novelist David Joy writes, The other day I was watching a BBC interview about poverty in Baltimore. One of the people being interviewed said something that really struck me. He looked into the camera … Continue reading →

Newitz and Wray write: “When we talk about white trash, we’re discussing a discourse which often confuses cultural icons and material realities, and in effect helps to establish and maintain a complex set of moral, cultural, social, economic, and political … Continue reading →

Newitz and Wray write, “[C]lass in the U.S. has always been a tricky category, often used metaphorically to designate forms of pathology and taste rather than literally to designate economic position. In the popular imaginary, there is often a confluence … Continue reading →

Nadine Hubbs, author of Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music, discusses how many Americans disdain country music in an attempt “to distance [themselves] from a group seen as unacceptable: a white working class assumed to be reactionary, hyper-patriotic and bigoted.” How … Continue reading →

In Hillbilly: A Cultural History, Anthony Harkins writes: [T]he portrayal of southern mountain people as premodern and ignorant ‘hillbillies’ is one of the most lasting and pervasive images in American popular iconography, appearing continuously through the twentieth century in nearly every major … Continue reading →

Post your own question, comment, or passage for discussion here.

In their documentary, Hillbilly (2018), how do directors Sally Rubin and Ashley York contest Vance’s characterization of the hillbilly?

According to Elizabeth Catte, what is it that people keep getting wrong about Appalachia? Specifically, what might Catte find objectionable in Vance’s book?

In Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance initially describes the white, Scots-Irish history and culture of Appalachia, and yet he downplays race and racism elsewhere in his memoir. For example, he discounts the link between race and poverty by asserting, “I have known many … Continue reading →