I have just declared

[polazarus]

That the term hillbilly is demeaning to a certain group of Americans. The Correct term to refer to them are Appalachian Americans. What do you think?

[meegbear]

1. I thought it was "Sons of the Soil"?

[XNASA]

2. Um, not everyone who lives in Appalachia.......

is a hillbilly. And not all hillbillies, live in Appalachia.

So, no. I don't think it's a correct use of the term.

[DarkPhenyx]

4. Not all African Americans...

...are black.

[polazarus]

10. You Are Correct

That girl that played the leading role In "Monster" is from South Africa, so she is an African American. (If she is now a citizen of the US)

[polazarus]

9. Well then...

What could I use? Mountain Men, Blue Ridge dwellers? Anyway I am just kidding.

Do any of you remember the Sesame Street skit with "There's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza." I loved that. It was funny.

[redqueen]

16. I remember that skit

I liked it as well. Still do! :)

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. don't tell him that

[BurtWorm]

5. What about those from the Ozarks? Are the Ozarks Appalachian?

I actually do believe that the rural poor are unjustly mocked in American culture. My daughter watches a show on Nickelodeon that features "A Hillbilly Moment" that perpetuates the stereotype of rural Southerners as toothless morons. Should kids be laughing at poverty? Isn't that what such "satire" mocks? Or is it mocking the stereotype? (I don't think so.)

[polazarus]

13. Since

I grew up poor in the south in the Foothills of the Appalachian mountains I tend to look back on that with a sense of humor. We joke about the car we had to ride to school in with no floorboard in the back. And yes I used the hole to spit my chewing tobacco out.

I am white, but I look up to MLK for his sermons, speeches and essays. People like him don't come around too often. If you get a chance, look up the MLK project from Stanford.

[BurtWorm]

14. It's one thing to laugh at one's own poverty, another to laugh at others

because of their poverty. Know what I mean?

[Triple H]

6. Nope. They'll always be known as hillbillies to me.

[NoPasaran]

7. I was going to say this was crazy

But meybe you'd prefer "sanity challenged".

[ET Awful]

8. How about . Genetically Intermixed Occupants of Unincorporated Townships?

n/t

[Triple H]

11. ROTFL

[Mrs. Venation]

12. I *Am* A Hillbilly

and I do not consider the term demeaning at all. In fact, I think most mountain people, at least in the area where I'm from, are not offended by the word.

If you don't like hillbilly, just call us Americans. Or human beings.

[mobuto]

15. "The folks up in the hills"

I've heard that one used by some friends from the Virginia panhandle. Its a little wordy, but they tend to be.

[Bertha Venation]

17. I'm a hillbilly by marriage

:loveya: