Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Oct 27, 2008, at 1:00 PM, Thomas Seay wrote:
>
> Well the whole state was the capital of the Confederacy, and though
> Virginia is the whitest of the southern states (or close to it), the
> eastern portion does have a fairly large black pop. So it mustn't be
> just about the Confederacy - there must be something particularly
> insular and unwelcoming about the hillbillies.
Well, many Arkansas "hillbillies" joined the Union Army during the Civil War! And in the '50s an Arkansas High School (probably in the hills), having invited Ralph Bunche to speak, and hearing that he expected integrated audiences, 'imported' Blacks from a hundred miles away to join the audience. (He told them they didn't need to go that much trouble.) So "Hillbilly" is itself a complex concept.
Carrol