Yesterday, I was having a little bit of a crappy day, or I was just a little stressed. Whatever, I was mouthy and just generally pissed off. So this is a bit of a venting session, but one I hope provokes some thought. My rant was probably at least partially fueled by social media and an event created by another local business that keeps popping up on my feed because people I know are “interested” in it. I don’t want to directly call people out here because I prefer to have my confrontations in person where I can really let loose.
Anyway, let’s talk about hillbillies. A couple weeks ago, we had 2 separate customers on the same day tell us that our goodbye shouldn’t be, “Thank you, have a great afternoon!” but rather, “Y’all come back now, y’hear?” Ummm, what?
I am offended not only by people who still, after all these years, assume that people who live in Northern Arkansas, specifically rural Arkansas, are ignorant and backward, but also by people who live here who are ok with the insult. I’m just going to drop a quote here that states more eloquently what I’m trying to say. My apologies if you’re a lover of Dogpatch, The Beverly Hillbillies, and ignoramuses in general.
“Arkansas had long suffered under the pens of yankee scribes, and a theme park populated by make-believe barefoot hillbilly morons was not entirely welcome. The day after Snow made his announcement, two officials with Arkansas’ Publicity and Parks Commission protested that Dogpatch USA would undermine the image of the state. They said the state would gain more from a project more like the Ozark Folk Center which had then just recently received a million dollar federal grant. The two officials said they thought a display of “indigenous folkways and crafts” might better serve to increase long-term tourist interest and create a more favorable image to attract investment.
The news of Dogpatch USA also inspired an angry and insightful response from a Gazette reader in Little Rock. “Perhaps this will draw many tourists to the state; but it will create a poor image of the state and especially the pioneer—the so called Arkansas hillbilly. This same hillbilly is our ancestor who built a state out of a wilderness. Mr. Snow’s project will make Arkansas the laughing stock of the nation. Is this the kind of publicity we want?
“It has taken almost 100 years for the state to ‘live down’ the image created by ‘Three Years in Arkansas’ and ‘A Slow Train Through Arkansas;’ then came Bob Burns with Grandpa Snazzy to bring back the bewhiskered, barefoot, tobacco-chewing, ignorant hillbilly. To further clinch the idea, came the Little Rock Central High School episode of 1957. Now, we have a group of business men who wish to keep this image before the public. Why?
“Where did the Arkansas hillbilly originate? In the mind of a ‘back east’ writer who knew even less about the natives of Arkansas than this writer knows about the inhabitants of Mars … These ignorant hillbillies left us the heritage of integrity, independence and pride. Do we want to trade it for a mess of pottage?”
From “Southern Changes,” the Southern Council 1978-2003
I don’t know for sure why we’ve suffered a resurgence of this kind of thing, but at the risk of sounding xenophobic, it seems to be from business owners who have moved here and want to embrace the culture. I’ll just drop a couple of images. This first one is obviously just cut and pasted from the internet for an event cover, judging by the watermark still on it. I hope you enjoy my Markup edit to erase the business name.
I don’t think you can get the full impact of this next one without the name, so I’ve left it on. Plus I’m not really worried that the owners read my blog, so hopefully I won’t hurt their feelings. I have no illusions that this little post will change the way these business owners are presenting themselves, and by extension our community at large.
So guys, before you start deciding how to present yourself to the world, maybe give a couple thoughts to the culture you’re embracing. This community in the Ozark Hills was built on resiliency, not kitschy ignorance. We’re badasses. We find a way when there isn’t one. We do research. We read books. Hell, we use Google.
I’d like to direct you to one of my favorite Southern culture sources. If you’re a redneck, a hillbilly, a hellraiser, maybe this one is for you. You can subscribe to the Bitter Southerner, but there’s also a podcast and a newsletter that are free.
https://bittersoutherner.com/rednecks-southern-fiction-taylor-brown