Are the struggles of poor White people to survive more noble than the struggles of poor Asian, Black, Latino, Indian and other people in this country and around the world?
I'm tired of all the lectures about Appalachia lately. Maybe some of you making excuses for them, should take time to educate them about the rest of us.
More after the fold.
First about me: I am a woman of color born overseas, but whose family emigrated (yes, legally, and I am now a citizen) to this country in the mid 80s. Years ago when I was in college I dated a man with roots in Appalachia. When I visited his hometown, his own family was quite gracious and friendly, but a few of his friends shocked him by not even wanting to meet me. There was almost nowhere that we could go in public without being blatantly being stared down. My boyfriend kept apologizing and saying they're just not used to seeing someone like me.
I didn't marry that boyfriend, but my husband is also White, and has extended family in rural areas. I feel very comfortable with them, and I actually love visiting mountainous and rural areas because they remind me of the area where my parents are from.
But now to the excuses I hear about Appalachia.
How easy do Appalachians think life was for the foreign ancestors of Barack Obama? For God's sakes, his African grandmother lives in a house without internal plumbing or electricity. Do their struggles count for anything? Or do only the struggles of one's ancestors in this country count?
The list of Appalachian grievances that I see in post after post, actually reminds me of the Iraqis. We invade their country, break it, burn it, bomb it and take their stuff, and now we have basically 2 factions in this country. One faction wants to stay and pillage them some more. Another faction wants to get out as soon as reasonably possible. Neither side really mentions a third option, which is our responsibility to replace the military agression with a humanitarian response staff. Likewise, those of you who know better than your Appalachian relatives and friends who are stuck in the past, should tell us what you do to counteract their ignorance.
All those examples - of Appalachians being poor, being left behind by progress, being taken advantage of, being forgotten by the rest of the country rushing forward without them - as reasons for not trusting a HALF-black man as president are all BULLSHIT. I got news for Appalachia: it wasn't poor minorities and other ethnic Whites who took opportunities away from you. It was the rich White people who disdain poor Black and White people alike, and blame them for their plight. So carrying this grudge against African-Americans for generations will not make your life any better.
Why should poor minorities make the first step towards poor Whites when some of the latter are still saying to themselves, "I may be poor, but at least I'm White?" Even other White ethnic groups had their share of troubles when they first came to this country. Why should Appalachia matter more than they?
UPDATE
Someone suggested a title of "Appalachia - We're in this Together". Underneath my frustration, that is actually the subtext of my rant. Many of you suggest compassion, but I get a sense that some of these people are hostile. How do you implement that compassion when even an attempt to shake someone's hand (as Senator Obama tried to do) is rebuffed?
Do you think perhaps a combination of President Obama + VP Jim Webb + Senator Edwards' Half in Ten poverty program can break through some of these barriers?