Blog 6: Discourse

                                                

                At the beginning of this course I was very unaware about the lives of people from the Appalachian region. To be honest, I really never had to think about the people of Appalachia because it really never affected me in any way. Now I am proud to say I have learned something new about the people of a hidden culture. Negative stereotypes filled my mind when I began this class and coming out of this class I have a better understanding of the more positive aspects of this society. Family values, strong community bonds, and hard working individuals is all that fills my mind now when I think of the people of Appalachia.

                When looking into why I previously thought this way, I am able to set blame upon the media, ignorance, and myself for not looking into something before forming an opinion. The people of this region are some of the most independent, hard working individuals that I have read about and met thus far. These people face issues that many people do not even need to think about and this is what creates their socially constructed views on society. It is sad to see how people nation wide to not know these people and what they have to deal with. One example of this is fracking and coal mining. These are two huge aspects in their society that really only they are directly affected by. The guest speakers who came in to speak to the class really gave great opinions on their stance of this society and the problems they face which was very interesting to hear about.

                                                      

                I think that nationally, our people need to start looking into these problems and meeting the people that deal with these particular issues. If this was accomplished I feel like people will not be so divided and stereotypical with their assumptions. Although I can blame myself for my ignorance, taking this class was a great step forward in providing me with insider’s views of a variety of different issues. I am glad I finished this class and actually took something out of it because many classes here at Ohio University you are able to go through and not taking anything from it. This on the other hand proved differently and a better understanding of this culture was the main goal.