Appalachia

Erik is right; this post is out of line. Making fun of poor rural people because they lose teeth is hardly appropriate, even if they live in red states:

1. Don’t we all know that this is because of poverty? I guess not. But we should. The level of poverty in West Virginia is a direct indictment of American society as a whole. It’s our system that allows this level of poverty. If we want to really do something about this, let’s not make fun of people. Let’s work to ensure that people don’t end up in this level of poverty. By the way, if those numbers concerned African-Americans or people of the developing world would these kind of jokes be told? I didn’t think so.

2. Dentists are expensive. Let’s say you even have health insurance. Does it cover denistry except for the most basic care? So many policies do not. I know that I haven’t had dental insurance for years. My wife has a quite good job and she doesn’t even have dental insurance because she would have to pay an exorbitant sum for not much care.

3. What does this kind of joke do for progressives politically? If I were a Republican and I wanted to convince people that the coastal elites/liberals/whatever thought they were better than “good ol’Americans” I would use this as Exhibit A. It’s when I see posts like this that I think some cultural conservatives have a point when they talk about cultural elitism. On a political level, this is really reprehensible.

Folks, anti-Appalachian prejudice is just as bad as racism or other forms of prejudice toward any other group. No, it doesn’t have the long-term historical implications of anti-black racism. But it causes real pain, feeds into Republican talking points, and, frankly, is disgusting.

Not only am I moving to the Appalachian region in four days, but I was also born there. Lay off, especially if you ever want to win West Virginia again.