On more than one occasion, this blog has mentioned what Lee Smith has said about the perpetuation of the cruel myth that the inhabitants of the Appalachians are stupid. To recap, her words were:
'Appalachia is to the South what the South is to the rest of the country. That is: lesser than, backward, marginal. Other. Look at the stereotypes: "Hee Haw," "Deliverance," "Dogpatch" and "The Dukes of Hazzard." A bunch of hillbillies sitting on a rickety old porch drinking moonshine and living on welfare, right?'
Obviously it isn't right, although Amesbury, Massachusetts is proud of its associations with Al Capp, the creator of 'Dogpatch', a place probably in Kentucky which is home to stupid hillbillies. In fact, Amesbury is so delighted with its Al Capp links that last year it erected a huge mural in honor of Capp, and a few months ago named an amphitheater after him:
Isn't there a conflict between celebrating two very different people associated with Amesbury? Now what would John Greenleaf Whittier, a man noted for his love of humanity, have thought of his adopted town praising a person best known for making fun of a minority group? Would he have just laughed it off? I think not.
Should I laugh it off, put it down to politically incorrect times, tell myself I have no sense of humor and admit Al Capp, in spite of everything, was a bloody good cartoonist? Dunno.
'Appalachia is to the South what the South is to the rest of the country. That is: lesser than, backward, marginal. Other. Look at the stereotypes: "Hee Haw," "Deliverance," "Dogpatch" and "The Dukes of Hazzard." A bunch of hillbillies sitting on a rickety old porch drinking moonshine and living on welfare, right?'
Obviously it isn't right, although Amesbury, Massachusetts is proud of its associations with Al Capp, the creator of 'Dogpatch', a place probably in Kentucky which is home to stupid hillbillies. In fact, Amesbury is so delighted with its Al Capp links that last year it erected a huge mural in honor of Capp, and a few months ago named an amphitheater after him:
Should I laugh it off, put it down to politically incorrect times, tell myself I have no sense of humor and admit Al Capp, in spite of everything, was a bloody good cartoonist? Dunno.
Posts
