Member-only story
Sometimes people are surprised to learn that I fit the description of a hillbilly, a person from a backwoods area (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary) because I’m not what people often expect a hillbilly to be. But I am.
I grew up on a farm in a “holler” in a small town in Eastern Kentucky. Both my parents grew up in the same general area where I grew up. They also both grew up on farms. My mom’s parents lived on “the ridge” above our house on the other side of the woods. My dad’s mom lived “over town” but back yet another holler, strictly speaking. You don’t get much more hillbilly than that.
Hillbillies are individuals just like people within every group that exists. Hillbilly families are not all alike.
Hillbillies who move away take parts of the culture with them, but we also tend to adapt to new environments and create a whole new culture — a mishmash of our hillbilly upbringing, our other life experiences, and where we’re living at the time.
Hillbillies are not what is often seen depicted in literature, movies, and the media. Stereotypes are harmful because they stop us from seeing people as individuals with varying points of view and life experiences. The hillbillies I know range from very progressive to very conservative. I know racist hillbillies and anti-racist hillbillies. There are hillbillies who are rich and hillbillies who are poor. There are hillbillies on government assistance and hillbillies who aren’t. I know hillbillies with the strongest work ethic I’ve ever seen, such as my Daddy, and I know hillbillies who are as lazy as they come (I won’t name names on that one.) I know incredibly intelligent hillbillies and incredibly unintelligent hillbillies.
From meeting people from around the world, I’ve learned that there are people from all those categories in every group of people I’ve ever met, not just hillbillies.
Our small town school didn’t always have the best funding or books or even well functioning heat, but our principals, guidance counselors and teachers taught us well and prepared us to the best of their abilities even when our school lacked resources. They helped us prepare for college and to fill out all the necessary forms.
I was taught good table manners including using a butter knife from the time I was a small child…
