Outside Observer
I just found an amazing article, an English translation from Le Monde Diplomatique. It’s called “What’s the Matter with West Virginia?”, dated October 2004. The perspective of French journalist Serge Halimi, following Bush on a tour through my hometown of Huntington–it’s remarkable, if only because the place hasn’t been written about much since the days of Mother Jones and the Redneck Rebellion.
…the natural beauty of the area concealed its poverty. Summer visitors to the Appalachians saw mountains, rivers and forests, but not the poor. The same is true now. You have to leave the freeway and venture along narrower roads (well surfaced, thanks to the influence of one of the two senators in Washington)…
(That would be Robert Byrd, the reformed ex-Klansman who for years has been tirelessly luring the odd governmental office or heavy industry to town, and plying them with incentives to try and keep them. He’s indirectly responsible for creating both my parents’ jobs.)