Hillbillies are a minority, no doubt about that. And it's always been OK to make fun of them as far as I an recall. But a new reality show based on The Beverly Hillbillies has irked a Southern Senator.
Is it OK to make fun of hillbillies? Well, we probably shouldn't make fun of any group. And they are poor and disadvantaged, as much as any minority. And although Southern rural areas are known for racism, it certainly isn't confined to the south (rural Oregon used to be particularly bad), or to rural areas (there were many anti-black riots in old New York). However, I would believe that the rural south is pretty much as bad as it gets. Still, discrimination is discrimination, and this show would be offensive if it was about any other ethnic group. And it basically is just another way for the middle class to laugh at the lower class. So I think the senator has a point.
Posted by ahyatt at February 25, 2003 05:44 PM