Posted by madeline on December 21, 2006, at 6:26:13
In reply to Lou's response to aspects of this thread, posted by Lou Pilder on December 20, 2006, at 20:01:03
Thank you for your post Lou. I am from the mountains of NC and have a true love and respect for that area.
I like the people there as I consider them to be very much me.
You are absolutely right about the self-sufficiency and desire to simply be left alone in regards to the classical mountain person. We are mainly of scotch/irish decent and a deep mistrust of authority and "outsiders" as been passed from the original immigrants to the area.
Our ancestors also gave us our accent that so many people view as a sign of ignorance, but if one listens to the scots and the irish you will hear the mountains.
President Roosevelt did so much to open the area up to the rest of country, and my grandparents had a picture of roosevelt on their wall until they passed away (funny because they consistently voted republican after his terms were over.) But sometimes I wonder if the TVA did more harm than good, because it certainly opened the area to a lot of ridicule and pathos.
The Appalachians have recovered somewhat from the environmental disasters of which you speak.
There is a large river that flows through the town close to where I grew up. As a child the river actually stank and I was afraid of it. Now the river is clean and people kayak, raft (it actually has class 4 rapids) and swim in it.
However the news is not all good, polluted rain is destroying Mt. Mitchell and other mountains of NC.
Thank you again for your post and your quest to understand and not judge.
Maddie
poster:madeline
thread:715236
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20061208/msgs/715384.html