Urban Appalachians - Facing Social Problems and Stereotypes

Facing Social Problems and Stereotypes

Some family networks were weakened or virtually destroyed by the moves from farm to coal camp to metropolitan area. These weakened families became the concern of social agencies and church-sponsored outreach ministries. Although relatively few of these families became welfare dependent, those few became the basis of the stereotype of the impoverished SAM or "southern Appalachian migrant." Newspaper stories about welfare, crime and violence and "poverty posters" of large, poorly dressed Appalachian families caused many urban Appalachians to disassociate themselves from an open Appalachian identity. Negative stereotypes have caused much suffering among people from Appalachia who have moved to the cities.

Thousands of families experienced some form of failure in their efforts to make new lives in the city. Some returned to the Appalachian region, some stayed and experienced the worst of urban poverty. Most have fought the odds and have overcome, although many still await the opportunity to have good schools, good jobs and secure neighborhoods. Advocacy and service organizations such as the Urban Appalachian Council were formed to respond to the needs of this population.

Even the strongest families, especially in the inner city, experienced a variety of hardships. Children were ridiculed because of the way they talked, the way they dressed or because of where they lived. Going to school was often just a matter of survival with little education occurring. Unable to cope with the hostile environment of large and bureaucratic urban public schools, generations of inner city Appalachians have had to cope without the benefit of even a high school education.