"And I've judged the whole area on that basis ever since."

Presumably Roddy doesn't even see the irony.

And 30 years later you're bringing it up for what purpose??? To incite racisim, to remind everyone of an incident that happened 30 years ago to try and sway votes, or to have folks read a stupid article so you can make a name for yourself. And I suppose since you judge that whole area ever since 30 years ago, that would make you a racist, No?

If you can't find something else to write about, get out of the business.

How dare you point out that passing judgement on an entire geographical area and all the people in it is judgemental. Claiming all of "those people" are racists is perfectly reasonable and not hypocritical at all. It's totally different than when the McCain campaign claims that Northern Virginia isn't the real Virginia, or blue America isn't the real America, that's wrongful exclusion...when THEY do it.

I live in eastern PA, but I work for an organization that is encouraging PA voters to vote for Sen. Obama. We hear report after report in western PA (and eastern, to be fair, although not quite as many) of Democrats who absolutely refuse to vote for an African American candidate. I'm not sure that the comment from 30 years ago is so out-of-date for this region.

There are reasons for racism to be more prevalent in the Appalachians. But, trust me, there is nowhere in the United States that I have visited that doesn't have their share of bigots. Most of the people in America who think that they are above having racist tendencies live in areas in which everyone is pretty much the same color. It's easy to be tolerant when everyone around you looks like you do.

Here's athought, stay the fu** out of people's lives (or at least thoughts).

Hit a nerve there, Hank old boy?