Here we are again. Thanks for the choice Trump. The Elegy of the Mountain People author JD Vance As his vice presidential running mate, we are knee deep in pig shit. essay after essay about Appalachia and country people. While most rightly noted that Vance was dressed up as this character from suburban Ohio, and that was certainly important for voters to know, I suspect it wouldn’t have much effect on country people.
Just like in 2016, when the book became a huge hit that gave many Americans the opportunity Final “understand” the area, and grapple with why poor white people Trump doesn’t want to interact with voted for him. That just allows them to congratulate themselves and continue their contempt. And just like in 2020 again, when The Elegy of the Mountain People The film was widely panned and later accused of being the biggest poverty porn scam since Precious. That only serves to reinforce some people’s assumptions.
Real writers from Appalachia, who didn’t LARP for a book deal, were quick to try to clear up the misunderstandings Vance left behind. We got some sharp work. Analyze and debunk stereotypes that Appalachia was more than just a bunch of lazy coal miners marrying their sisters. And the collections Regional response to stereotypes followed. By the time the movie came out, a slew of new articles appeared, including mine, where I share my own recognition of the struggle described in Ron Howardthe movie, despite the book’s bitter failures. And There are still many more writers, urges readers to educate themselves about the rich but often erased history of African Americans in the region commonly known as Affrilachia.
Will people try to read it all and understand it? Who knows. All I know is that there are Appalachian writers today begging us to read their stories and understand that this book does not represent them. And so does Vance. Neema Avashia, someone wrote a wonderful article about the elimination of South Asian immigrants in the area. And poor rural white people grew up like me and left recognize the helplessness and struggle in Vance’s story But conscientious objection does not draw the same grim, self-help conclusion that he did. It is the patently toxic idea that poor whites must stand up for themselves—and if they fail, it is because they are lazy or unwilling.
Seeing this soul-baring series of essays, I almost let myself get excited that we can push this country into a more honest and compassionate discussion about this area. Hey, even Everybody magazine is Book suggestions other than The Elegy of the Mountain People read! #FakePeople is trending! That means people actually want to think about what reality That’s country folk, and maybe that wouldn’t automatically come with an incest joke! Then I saw it: The Elegy of the Mountain People has returned to the bestseller list. Once again, the film is one of the most streamed films on Netflix.
Many liberals are happy to criticize Vance’s blue-collar antics, but I see no evidence that they understand or appreciate what Appalachian people are going through. It’s easy to criticize Vance, but what does that do for the region—and when will a new understanding emerge? When will we stop treating blue-collar people like punching bags and start talking about the policies that harm Appalachians and the solutions they so desperately need?
Here’s the painful truth of my life: I’m a liberal, and I’ve never had to defend Appalachia any more than any other group besides liberals. For obvious and unsavory reasons, conservatives pretend to understand this, because it serves their purposes. They also despise the rural poor, but they’re more interested in exploiting it. Liberals get it both ways: They can rightly condemn Vance and also join in on a social media joke about the country bumpkins.
It’s heartening to see people point out that Vance is not just a fake, but worse: He’s one of the most ruthless manifestations of the do-it-yourselfer I’ve ever encountered, and I grew up in Southern Baptist churches during the Satanic panic and right-wing madness of the 1980s. But seeing the region never cease to regurgitate the sense of superiority of liberal intellectuals puts me in a kind of deep political purgatory. Anyone who thinks that JD Vance is solely responsible for the way Appalachia is perceived is no more honest or educated than the idiots liberals assume will vote for him. They’re not trying to help Appalachia or the country bumpkins. They’re just using it to tear Vance down.
Vance had to do so. But the unvarnished rebuke the region needed was a painful reminder of a second enduring truth about Appalachia: People don’t Actually want to understand it. Much easier to scoff at it, shake your head, and walk away. That was in 2016, in 2020, and today.
I don’t live in Appalachia anymore. I left over a decade ago. My family is still there and has been for centuries. I am their biggest critic and defender. But that’s how family and the things you love and leave work. Many of the most heated debates about the area I have had with myself.
But over time, I came to terms with it and saw it for what it was: a complex, beautiful place that had been plundered and defrauded. The main reason why its people survived and struggled to this day, like any other minority group, was because of the desire to preserve the beauty and culture of this place, and to make it better.
