Appalachian Stereotypes

Diversity is what makes you unique, being composed of differing elements. I am someone who is composed of differing elements such as culture, voice, personality, etc.

In his book, “Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War”, Thomas G. Andrews construes the trajectory of a unique labor movement of the southern Colorado coal workers. The labor movement is unique as it integrates the social, ecological and industrial context of the strike for a captivating narration of the Ludlow massacre. Andrew’s account is valuable as he insists that credible conclusions must be grounded in complete and sophisticated provenance as opposed to oversimplified explanations. The intent of this response paper is to analyze the burdensome nature of obtaining coal, substandard pay and the treacherous working conditions. Secondly, the paper discusses the ways which helped employees to achieve autonomy and solidarity.

The ensuing conflict, between labor vs. capital, during the late 1800s initiated a struggle of power in the workforce between the rich-industrialists (or corporate leaders) and the middle-class/lower-class workers. The Capitalists had intervened with the protests orchestrated by the workers, ensuring that the power remains with them. The strategies of the industrialists and the unique ways of protesting from the workers, contributes to spur a vigorous argument between the employers and their employees. The workers tried their best to ameliorate their working conditions by forming numerous unions, trying to fix currency (gold to paper) to economically help themselves, refusing to go to work, resorting to violence and non-violence, etc. However, the Corporate leaders kept an upper hand and dissolved the workers’ ambitions by hiring scabs, creating a strong relationship with the military (Pullman strike), controlling and fixing policies at work, hiring immigrants for cheap labor, etc. Throughout the late 1800s, the corporate leaders have been able to successfully prevent workers who had resorted to: forming unions, protests (ex. Pullman strike and Homestead strike), violence (ex. Haymarket Sq. Riot), etc., from achieving a radical solution to the workers issues with the management by using several different strategies including but not limited to: hiring scabs/immigrants in the Homestead strike, using government support in the Pullman strike and keeping the power on their side

Other than being white, there is another major reason generalized personas arise specifically for Appalachia, and that is isolation. Unlike most ethnic and cultural groups, Appalachians, are from and in Appalachia and only Appalachia. Of course, hillbilly is thrown around not always in direct description of the group, but the persona associated with term is completely rooted in

In the world of Appalachia, stereotypes are abundant. There are stories told of mountaineers as lazy, bewildered, backward, and yet happy and complacent people. Mountain women are seen as diligent, strong, hard willed, and overall sturdy and weathered, bearing the burden of their male counterparts. These ideas of mountain life did not come out of thin air; they are the direct product of sensational nineteenth century media including print journalism and illustrative art that has continuously mislead and wrongfully represented the people of Appalachia. These stories, written and told by outsiders, served very little purpose to Appalachian natives other than means of humiliation and degradation. They served mostly to convince readers of the

In the early 20th Century, West Virginia was a place where coal barons held immense power. Coal companies owned towns, mayors and governors. Miners were forced to live on coal camps and rent houses from them, as well as purchase all of their coal and other items required to survive from the companies. With this control, mining families where forced to live and work in brutal conditions. In 1921, after a generation of violent suppression, miners erupted in the largest class war in US history. For 5 days miners fought the coal barons, over 1 million rounds of ammunition were fired, this is known as the Battle of Blair Mountain.

The mine owners began evicting coal miners who would not leave the UMWA. The mine owners contacted the Baldwin-Felts Agency to send guards out to protect the mines and intimidate the union miners. On May 19, 1920, Thomas Felts, the president of the Baldwin-Felts agency, Albert and Lee Felts, which were his two younger brothers and ten other guards, arrived in Matewan to evict miners and their families. Chief of Police Sid Hatfield and a group of miners tried to stop them from carrying out their objective. When the guards returned to Matewan from Stone Mountain Camp after they finished evicting miners, some union members tried to prevent them from boarding the train to Bluefield. Sid Hatfield tried to arrest Albert Felts outside the railroad depot for conducting the evictions illegally. The confrontation that followed is known at the Matewan Massacre. Nobody knows who fired first, but Sid Hatfield claimed Albert Felts fired first. In the massacre, seven guards, including Albert and Lee Felts, Mayor Testerman and two miners were killed. Sid Hatfield, a hero in the eyes of the miners was charged with the shootings. Hatfield and 17 strikers were

Eventually, the workers of American Coal, who were once the landowners of the very area they were mining, formed a labor union to fight for better working conditions. The union was met with great opposition by the company’s secret police. As time went on, the coal miners continued to fight for their rights, only to be put down violently by the coal company’s strikebreakers. Union leaders were also fired and blacklisted from the company as a means to put a stop to union activity.

Striking workers had not committed any violent acts, but their standoff with obstinate planters was heading toward a violent climax on January 14, 1871. For two days in a row, Henry C. Minor—reinforced by the local “colored” sheriff,

Stereotypes seem to be very present in our country, especially stereotypes towards African-Americans. For the longest time, like it has been instilled as a fact in my brain, black people have been directly related to the words “ghetto” or “hood”. I don’t remember a time where I actually can remember the words “ghetto” or “hood” without the picture in my mind of an African-American person. I think that this is a big problem in today’s society because it is not true but still seems to be taught. In politics, society, and everyday life, it feels like African-American’s are being slammed for being hoodlums. This is a problem because there are millions of African-American people who do not fit this stereotype, but still get degraded and treated badly because of this age old belief.

Burns, Shirley Stewart. Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2007. Print.

The Ludlow Massacre of 1914 is one of the bloodiest strike in the American labor history. Historians have debated whether the event was a massacre of innocent lives caused by the Colorado Fuel & Iron (CF&I) or as a battle between the company workers and the company militiamen. The CF&I stated that the event was an act of its workers to demilitarize the company and to prevent importation of “strikebreakers”. However, Thomas Andrews’ Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War introduces the concept of workscape in which gives an understanding of the event internally, above the surface and underground the mines of Colorado. Within the book, the operation of Colorado coal companies in capitalizing the coal industry lead to the formation of the mine workscape in which united coal miners underground the mines and above the surface to fight for industrial and political rights. This paper would define the concept of workscape in the definition given by Andrews, and provide evidence of the responsibility of the exploitation of capitalism in forming the mine workscape in the Colorado coal fields between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Furthermore, the closer inspection of several events that occurred within and outside the grounds of the Colorado coal fields related to labor unrest with the knowledge of the concept of workscape will help understand the culmination of the Ludlow massacre within the larger history of capitalism. A careful investigation of the book and other

Thus, one can assume that in crafting of this strategy, the coal mine operators sought to appeal to members of the black working class in Alabama in the most effective and manipulative manner possible. To rightfully assume the purpose of manipulation, one must establish the strategists’ point of view at a time before the strategy’s implementation. In “Encyclopedia of Alabama,” Day points out that “Alabama mine owners continued to use growing popular support for Jim Crow legislation to divide mine workers and oppose the efforts of the UMWA. They were aided in this effort by the adoption of the 1901 Constitution, which codified segregationist policies in Alabama.” (Day) to describe prominent coal mine operators’ approach to labor and race relations, which emphasizes these individuals’ lack of principle in pushing for increases in African-American coalmine workforce participation several years later. However, the solidarity provided by the United Mine Workers of America led to an alleviation of racial divisions within this specific workforce, as Day also writes that “proximity, family ties, common hazards, safety concerns, and meager wages unified white and black miners in their quest for equal pay for equal work. Furthermore, the miners' ability to transcend racial barriers resulted in working-class solidarity that

The first strike was during the 1870’s in a coal region of Pennsylvania. The conditions were harsh in the mines and there were few if any safety precautions. A group of Irish miners organized a union in which they called Molly Maguires. Pinkerton agents were sent in by the mine owners to control the Molly Maguires, this event led to the formation of other strike groups.

Although the character of Sofia knows that her resistance will cause trouble, she feels it is more important to stand up for herself, than to bow down to repression of white authority. Had Sofia not fought back, she still would have been punished for cursing the Mayor’s wife. There was no pathway for Sofia to keep her dignity and not offend the Mayor and his wife. In that system, a black person had to remain inferior to whites, and in the South, follow the Jim Crow Laws that enforced segregation. C N Truman describes Jim Crow as “a minstrel show character from the 1830’s. He was portrayed as an elderly, crippled and clumsy African American slave and his portrayal showed all the negative stereotypes of African Americans – the black man with his white master with Jim Crow being thankful for his lot in life.” Sofia goes against these stereotypes as she is a strong-willed woman who throughout the text knows she is entitled to more. The only idea that Sofia follows, is that she unwillingly has a white master, but is never thankful for this.