Hillbilly:The Real Story

[Scairp]

Having been born in Harlan County, KY (county seat is Cumberland), and having lived and gone to 1st and part of 2nd grade in Middlesboro, which is in Bell County, KY, this naturally caught my attention. I was wondering if anyone here on this board who also has roots in this part of the country had watched the entire program and would like to make some comments. I am anxious to find out if it is characterizing us, meaning me, my parents, grandparents, and all my ancestors, as barefoot, ignorant, moonshine drinking, shootin' one another over a hog redneck hicks who marry at age 13 and live on welfare for generations, or will they portray the truth, the fact that the people in this part of the world are some of the most resilient you will find anywhere, and that this culture is rich and unique and played a critical role in the very foundation of this country?

[undergroundpanther]

1. I have hillbilly roots

My family is scattered through Grayson Co., Galax Va,and North Carolina on dirt roads in the middle of the woods.For example my aunt Lucy lives on a farm with her chickens, a cow,cats dogs,guineas,and a huge garden she cans alot. She has a one room house with a tin roof (hellova racket in a hailstorm BTW)and a loft to sleep in .It's on a long winding dirt road near grassy creek, she has running water only in the kitchen sink.Her kitchen is the living room and every other room,off to the side where she has a couch,there's a black and white TV, and a fridge with a motor on the bottom of it,a root cellar out the back door with a big ice block in it and you have to light a lantern in there to see,and an outhouse is her bathroom a few minutes walk away, She chews tobacco and almost every house where my folks live has a spitoon. I visit down there every summer..and I am a melungeon.

My mom jokes that she is not a hillbilly but an Appalachian American.

[undergroundpanther]

2. Here's some cool stuff

about one of my ancestors you might get a kick out of..Goldenhawk Sizemore..

http://www.geocities.com/ringfingers/whitetop2.html
http://www.melungeons.com/articles/melungeondnaproject.htm#SIZEMORE

[fasttense]

3. I watch about an hour of one episode.

My husband's last name is the name of a mountainside in KY. There was a book written about his family and it wasn't very nice.

The hour I saw was very realistic. It wasn't always flattering, but it wasn't a stereotype Hillbilly story either.