A note on real "Hillbillies"
J.D. Vance has made a lot of money peddling an image of Hillbilly culture and, frankly, it makes me nauseous. While I don't dismiss his hellacious upbringing I have found his portrayal of the Appalachian experience as particularly insulting, and not the celebration of overcoming.
I come from a very long line of "hillbillies" dating back to before this country was a nation. I can trace my roots past our deep connection in the Hatfield/McCoy feud and into the formation of the Rhode Island colony as indentured servants from Scotland. My dad was a redneck farmer from "who laid the chunk" as the saying goes. He came through the depression and understood abject poverty, ignorance and bigotry. It took a world war to blast away much of the negatives of that world, but he never turned his back on it. He jsut realized that the world was bigger than his West Virginia farm after experiencing the Blitz and marrying a servant-class woman in England.
Unlike Vance, he didn't have the opportunity to get an Ivy League education. The venture capital world of Silicon Valley didn't exist for him. The US Navy taught him accounting and showed his ability to interpret numbers in his role in naval intelligence in the war room. He left Appalachia to build a new life for his wife and, eventually, his only child in San Francisco, California.
After years of working as a bookkeeper for retail businesses, he purchased a modest house in Redwood City just south of San Francisco and built a successful bookkeeping business run out of a used Volkswagen van. He had the opportunity to become a certified public accountant, but decided against it because he preferred to work with small businesses as a bookkeeper. He did not care for "big business" despite holding to what he called "Liincoln Republican" values.
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He held onto his roots by establishing a year round vegetable garden, and doing it organically long before. We had a huge compost pile in the corner which fed some of the greatest vegetables I've ever eaten. He also made his own beer using ingredients from that same garden.
Like Vance, Dad escaped Appalachia to leave the negatives behind, but he never regretted where he came from. He honored the Hillbilly independence, simplicity, and honest patriotism while rejecting bigotry and ignorance. He was nothing like Vance or the people Vance describes. Vance's book, Hillbilly Elegy, is an aberration of the region and America.
He is not a Hillbilly.
CEO at TEKVOX, INC.
4 个月Very well-said, Lou. Stolen heritage is not considered as egregious as stolen valor but it still reeks. My wife is from Middletown, OH and, as many times as I have visited, I've only seen a prosperous working- & middle-class town.
Lou, thanks for sharing. Your father bought wisely in Redwood City-I am sure decades ago.
Experienced professional with a passion for making an impact through my work
4 个月Lou, my mother was born in Elkins, WV and grew up in Marlington, WV while my grandfather was in charge of facilities at the then state mental hospital. She is a force of nature being 5’1” tall and the first bad ass woman in my life. Sadly, my grandfather for all his intellect was a product of the times and location in regards to his intolerance of non-white, non-Protestants, but my mother outgrew those prejudices to become more inclusive. She is fearless, never subscribed to the words “I can’t”, and did her best as a single mother of a half Latino son - a true Hillbilly success story. Thank you for sharing your story, Lou.