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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Sat Apr 28, 2018, 04:37 PM Apr 2018

Bourdain's field notes: West Virginia

...

The hills of West Virginia are breathtakingly beautiful. The people I met there were unfailingly kind, and forgiving of my liberal tendencies. Though the culture, landscape, attitudes, voting tendencies, and religious beliefs were about as far from my own as they are from Saudi Arabia’s, I felt at home. I was enchanted—both by the people I met and by McDowell County’s mist-covered small towns.

Like any other episode of Parts Unknown, whether in Vietnam or Nigeria, or any city in the United States, this West Virginia episode is a plea for understanding of the people whose personal histories, sense of pride, independence, and daunting challenges deserve respect. It’s a walk in somebody else’s shoes.

The stereotypes about West Virginia, it turns out, are just as cruel, ignorant, misguided, patronizing, and evil as any other. Every meal might have begun with saying grace, but there was nothing hypocritical about it. People do care about each other. Friends, family, and the community are held close. The men and women who come from families of four, five generations of coal mining are not naive about the promises of cynical politicians—or the inevitable future of fossil fuel. Their identities, their aspirations, and their situation are far more complex than one can imagine, and their needs are more immediate.

...



https://explorepartsunknown.com/west-virginia/bourdains-field-notes-west-virginia/
7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Bourdain's field notes: West Virginia (Original Post) Staph Apr 2018 OP
Faith is also killing them RandySF Apr 2018 #1
Thank you for your stereotyping and ignoring the words Mr. Bourdain wrote. Staph Apr 2018 #3
Thanks for the reminder, Staph; elleng Apr 2018 #2
The interesting thing is ... nmgaucho Apr 2018 #4
This message was self-deleted by its author appalachiablue Apr 2018 #5
Kick + Rec for visibility Drum May 2018 #6
And thanks for your kind words! Staph May 2018 #7

RandySF

(57,661 posts)
1. Faith is also killing them
Sat Apr 28, 2018, 04:59 PM
Apr 2018

Faith that coal mining will never end and faith in Trump’s promise to bring it back. They also cling to the at EPA is solely to blame for their problems because it’s the one tangible thing On which Trump can have an impact.

Staph

(6,245 posts)
3. Thank you for your stereotyping and ignoring the words Mr. Bourdain wrote.
Sat Apr 28, 2018, 05:12 PM
Apr 2018
The men and women who come from families of four, five generations of coal mining are not naive about the promises of cynical politicians—or the inevitable future of fossil fuel. Their identities, their aspirations, and their situation are far more complex than one can imagine, and their needs are more immediate.




nmgaucho

(527 posts)
4. The interesting thing is ...
Sat Apr 28, 2018, 05:18 PM
Apr 2018

Trump has nothing in common with these people. He sees them as ignorant rubes that will vote for him based on his empty promises

Response to nmgaucho (Reply #4)

Drum

(8,917 posts)
6. Kick + Rec for visibility
Mon May 7, 2018, 02:31 PM
May 2018

I grew up in West Virginia. My parents moved there when I was a toddler, and I spent the next 23 years there.

As a person who's now lived in NYC (working in the arts) for almost 30 years, I still feel things about my home state that are full of contradictions and conflicting feelings of mine...but I will never abandon WV or her people to being pure stereotypes.

I really appreciate the words and sentiments in the OP, and look forward to finding and watching this Bourdain episode.

Thanks, Staph, for the post!

Staph

(6,245 posts)
7. And thanks for your kind words!
Mon May 7, 2018, 02:41 PM
May 2018

I've lived here all my life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I've traveled extensively (49 states, 30+ other countries), but I'm always happy to return home.

My fellow West Virginians drive me crazy from time to time, but they are as Bourdain describes them - warm, welcoming, loyal to a fault.


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