My good friend Steve sent me a note this morning with a political correctness update. No longer should y'all from outside the south call the folks from northern Alabama, north Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, western South Carolina, Virginia or Kentucky by the derogatory term hillbillies, as we now should be called Appalachian-Americans.
Dang I'm glad somebody woke up and smelt the biscuits. Just because we're fond of fishin' with dynamite, makin' our own whiskey, and dating our cousins it's no cause to talk down to us by callin' us hillbillies.
Sure a lot of us (including me) have six cars in our yards, but most of 'em are up on blocks, so they don't count. And as Ol' Jeff Foxworthy says "If my back porch fell down, I'd lose a few dogs," but that's just the way it is here in the country.
The thing is, I love hillbillies. I don't know of anyone who can watch an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies without getting a smile or two across their face. Truth is, the word hillbilly (or redneck for that matter) doesn't really bother me. Anyone could take a look at me, my kin folks, and where we live and we'd be convicted by an impartial jury of being a hillbillies.
But some of the kindest most generous folks I've ever met are from the hills of the south and I've been around some.
In the spirit of political correctness, the proper name for us is Appalachian Americans, but as far as I'm concerned, you can just call me a hillbilly.
Can't shut me up today!! Eight syllables instead of three - they can't be serious. I loved the Beverly Hillbillies, caricature tho' it may have been. This is taking PC way too far and destroying peoples culture. Heh, heh.
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