Five decades later, the mountains still need what they never got

By: James Branscome

Outlets: Kentucky Lantern

Published: June 4, 2026

Words: 1,113

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 2 days ago

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When I published “Annihilating the Hillbilly” in 1971, the manifesto argued that the stereotyping of Appalachian people was not folklore but a tool. Coal operators, federal agencies, national media, and political elites used the hillbilly caricature to blame mountain people for conditions created by absentee ownership and extractive industries. The image was a weapon. The essay first appeared in the Journal of the Committee of Southern Churchmen, edited by my former Berea College professor Dr. …

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