this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2026
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and we still sing those songs. and people who know what the fuck they're about sing them with the perspective of "i still remember that you are my neighbor and friend. our time of separation will not be forever"
Appalachia has always been a coalition of rejects just trying to survive. the daughters of the confederacy have corrupted many communities into misunderstanding their local history. but my homeland cannot be free until every Black person is free, regardless of where they are or where they're from.
True Rednecks, the kind that understand that the red bandana represents a coalition of Native Americans, Black people, and white working class folk, are the future of Appalachia. it's just a lot of people aren't knowing that yet.
Just to piggy back off of this, I want to recommend a really wonderful book called What You're Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte
It's an introduction to the region, its history and culture, and its highly extractive relationship to the rest of the United States.
There's also a whole chapter dedicated to ripping JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy to shreds, which is incredibly satisfying
talking about my feelings on James Donald Bowman would leave me in violation of my instance rules