Hillbilly Part I

I know I'm living in the northeast again when I hear people throw around the word hillbilly (or hillbillies) with casual frequency to refer to an individual, group of people or just a state of being. Three years living in Minnesota I never encountered the word. There isn't a geographic or cultural context for this word in the upper midwest. Not so in the northeast. Shortly after moving back to New York I was stunned by the number of times this bigoted, class-biased slur was uttered by self-proclaimed politically sensitive people.

What does the word mean? Without getting into a lengthy history (see Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon, by Anthony Harkins) it has its origins as a designation for people in the mountain south of the U.S, - specifically Appalachia. It is derogatory as hell. Let's review the connotations: a "hillbilly" is someone who is morally and culturally degenerate, backward, poor, violent, uneducated, rural, inbred, stupid, etc etc. In the American imagination the stereotype of the hillbilly was created in order to serve as an "other" for those who considered themselves to be modern, civilized, sophisticated, cultured, educated and urban.

Popular writers, anthropologists, capitalists and others from the northeast were instrumental in constructing this offensive stereotype in the 1800's as they traveled Appalachia exploiting the land and people. They viewed Appalachians as the antithesis of progress, modernity and civilization and came to define themselves against this stereotype. In short, they created a scapegoat, an "other," and this hillbilly "other" serves them well today.

However, like most words, its connotations change over time. Typically, when someone uses the term "hillbilly" today they often mean "redneck" or "white trash." People who resemble or are used as the basis of *Cops* shows. A little different in that it's not as place-specific, but the classist, pejorative nature of the word is still intact.

Nevertheless, I'm not comfortable hearing much less using any of these terms. But "hillbilly" deeply impacts me. As someone from Appalchia it's a little too close for comfort.

jb