“Wendell
Berry points out that even among the advocates of political correctness or
multiculturalism, negative stereotypes of rural and working-class whites remain
fashionable.” (From Redneck Liberation, David Fillingim)
I have been
disturbed for quite some time how liberal advocates of social change are
perfectly comfortable with using stereotypes for people from the communities I
come from. Having grown up rural and working class, I have found myself deeply
uncomfortable at many a social justice meeting. During the recent election,
discussions on gun violence, and irritation at the apparent backwardness of the
Republican party (the party that most appeals to working class whites), a day
rarely goes by that I do not block a Facebook mime quoting some liberal talk
show host that mocks the people I grew up with.
Working
class, rural people are characterized as ignorant, stupid, gun toting bigots
with poor hygiene and even worse sensibilities. Their opinions (or stereotypes
of their opinions) are mocked as so backwards as to be laughable. Because
rural, working class people do not often have college educations, they are
assumed to be uneducated and uninformed.
I am not
defending the opinions of Fox News, but because this network tends to appeal to
a working class demographic, I am frustrated by how criticism of Fox quickly
degenerates into satire of a whole group of people. Or how gun control
advocates portray the average NRA member as a backwards redneck who is too
stupid to understand with the constitution really meant. When I hear and see
these stereotypes, I hear educated elitism, not real social critique.
Now, I
understand that this is rarely the intention. People advocating for gun control
are concerned, even heartbroken, over the terrible rise of gun violence in this
country. Fox News talk hosts and Tea Party politicians make outrageous, racist statements about immigrant
groups, people of color, LBGT people, and liberals in general. That should be critiqued. We
need a genuine concern for social and racial justice.
What
concerns me is that people who glibly speak these “redneck stereotypes” often
do not give a thought to the lives and realities of the U.S. rural, working
class. When liberal talk show hosts mock redneck gun owners, do they know what
it is like to live in areas where police are rarely available, wild animals
attack your pets and livestock, hunting is a way of life, and people are
feeling that they have no control over their own lives? When liberals mock the
supposed redneck fear of the government, are they aware of how excessive
government regulations have destroyed rural economies, small farms, little “mom
and pop” shops, and rural industry? Do they have any idea what it is to barely
scrape by day after day, live in a community where the only industry that
sustained the town is now gone, where your kids are ending up couch surfing or
living on the street? Do we think about how humiliating it is for a quarter of
residents in an area to stand in line for food stamps, be treated like an
inferior by a government official, and how that eats away at a person’s self-respect?
There is real fear and real poverty and real struggle here. In the town my dad
works in, the poverty rate is 36%. People may disagree on how to address these
realities (and rural, working class people disagree among themselves), but let’s
not mock them.
I also have
to say that these stereotypes are patently untrue. Most rural, working class
people—my family, my friends, the people I grew up with—are people with a deep
wisdom, a strong dose of common sense, and deep loyalty to community and land.
All of us young urban professionals looking for community and trying to figure
out how it works? Go ask a redneck.
I guess I
am just asking that we think about what is being said before we glibly repeat
or share stereotypes of my people. Yes, be concerned about the rise in
violence. Yes, advocate for social justice. Yes, critique party platforms you
disagree with. But don’t hit my people while they are already down and
desperate. Maybe we can talk about justice for them too.
Yes, thank you so much for this post!
ReplyDelete-Kellyann
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for writing this. I have reflected a lot on how lower-class / rural white people are treated by progressives, and feel like it always comes down to our unique understanding of power and authority. I had hoped that I would find religious circles to be substantially-different in that regard, given the emphasis on knowing the other and reconciliation, but have been deeply-disappointed.
I think the question of who we stereotype and who we judge harshly as progressives comes down to who it is that we think we ought to have authority and power over. We may be hesitant to demonize people of colour making homophobic statements in Africa, because we recognize that there is a problematic history of colonialism, and because we recognize them as having less power or privilege than us, we are comfortable saying that it is not our place to condemn them. We may even offer apologies for their views.
Those same statements made by a person who is white, of Scots-Irish descent and living in Appalachia or the South, will be absolutely ridiculed and attacked, as will the person making them. They will be cast as evil or bad, not simply wrong. No attempt to apologize for or understand their views, or see their humanity, will be made. We will not say, "this person is doing a bad thing, and yet I love them and want to understand them." Instead we expect these "rednecks" to yield to us, as we are clearly both more correct and in authority over them.
Why? Because they're white, and we know that whiteness is paramount. Especially if we're white, that means we see these poor, rural people as our equals, as part of our tribe, and thus fair game. They are not really a "them", an other; they are merely an inferior "us". They belong to the same culture as us! It is not possible that the culture might be as different between New York and the hills of West Virginia, or Seattle and Zillah, as it is between New England and Nigeria, San Francisco and Uganda.
No, rural white hicks are truly damnable because they should have heard and been converted by the things we believe. If we were raised in an anti-gun, gay-friendly household, we were lucky to start out a few points ahead of those poor bastards who cling to their guns and hate the gays. We are simply better than them.
We are absolutely unwilling to condemn those who have heard the Gospel of Christ and not heeded it, but very willing to name, shame, blame, attack and hate those who have lived within our borders, those we feel are in our tribe and under our authority, and who have not come 'round to the Gospel we more enthusiastically preach.
It is very easy for those who have never left liberal cities to simply dismiss the suffering of the white rural poor. To extend one's sympathies in that direction would clearly be a distraction from the people we really ought to be helping; justice must be a zero sum game. We imagine that those Southerners and hill people we view as our enemies have all the political power, influence and clout that we wish we did. That they always get their way, and cause every bad thing.
Of course, my use of 'we' is a little disingenuous. I was not so blessed as to be born in a progressive household, and my ancestors dot the hills of Appalachia and the valleys of Ohio. They were hicks. They ate raccoon and owned guns and were awful racists and homophobes. They were not aware of their privilege. I grew up with rednecks, and their values. I know those people, even if I don't identify with them today. I identify much more firmly with progressives and, in my hypocrisy, am much more willing to criticize progressives, too. Sometimes I find it tempting to slip into the stereotyping, the blaming and the hatred of the rural poor.
It moves me greatly to read you writing about needing justice for them, too. It reminds me to struggle to recognize that my life is very different to theirs, and that they ache for justice, too. Thank you.
Thank you, Sarah. You eloquently state the case for understanding people instead of dismissing them as irrelevant to any political or social program. People are people, not obstacles to an agenda, and need to be treated with respect.
ReplyDelete