Worth a Read...

So I've seen a lot of talk recently about a post by NPR titled "In Appalachia, Poverty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder." This was first brought to my attention by my cousin, and after I read it, all I have to say is well done.

The general idea of the article is that people in Appalachia, specifically Eastern Kentucky, are tired of being the poster child for poverty. Yes, there are poor people in the area, but there is also considerable wealth. There are houses in shambles and yards cluttered with trash, but there are also multi-million dollar houses and private, gated communities.

More importantly though, the author and subjects of the interview emphasize that while some people in Appalachia may be living in poverty, the fact has actually never occurred to them. To directly quote the article:

"But poverty is also in the eye of the beholder...Many people here say they're rich in things that aren't included in any official measure of poverty. Things like family and faith."

I couldn't agree with this statement more! Looking back on my childhood, yes there were times I wore hand-me-down clothes, yes there were things some of my friends in school had that we couldn't afford, yes there were times we couldn't go out to eat until pay day came around again. But I don't consider myself poor. In all honesty, I think I had a pretty darn good childhood! I loved my hand-me-downs! No one ever knew, and they were good clothes. I know there was disappointment at the time, but now I'm glad I wasn't handed every toy I asked my parents for. Had that been case my brother and I may have never spent so much time playing Power Rangers and Daniel Boone outside. But more importantly, if my parents had always catered to my every whim, and I always got my way, I would have been a spoiled brat, I'm very aware of that fact.

The last part of this post I want to touch on is the following statement made by one of the interviews:

"'We're probably one of the last few groups that it's still politically correct to make fun of," Wright says. "It's still OK to tell, you know, hillbilly, redneck jokes.'"

 Again, I have already shared one of my personal experiences with the Appalachian stereotype in a previous post, so I don't want to sound like a broken record, but this statement troubles me the most. Being Appalachian isn't bad, yet that is what the rest of America seems to think. The stereotype of "dumb rednecks," and "shoeless hillbillies," hits too close to home for me. I want to change that, I want to shed positive light on my mountains. And this article is a step in the right direction.

Well done NPR, well done indeed.

Full article: http://www.npr.org/2014/01/18/263629452/in-appalachia-poverty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder