The Cursed Appalachian Mining Town

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As someone who grew up in the heart of Appalachia, southern WV, this short film rings true in many ways. I left in 2009 when I was 25 to live in the Front Range metro of Colorado (from one mountain range to another) because of the lack of opportunity in WV. Part of me feels bad for these folks. I lived in Clay, WV for middle school and high school and I went to a tiny college in the mountains there on a scholarship, Concord College. In many cases, these folks' pride, contentment, and religion is what keeps them poor, unhealthy, uneducated, drug addicted generation after generation. We had many programs for folks to get educated and find new work but a lot of times the attitude in these tiny towns is "he's only going to college because he ain't man enough to work in the mines" or "why you always exercising and so picky about what you eat? Sissy boy" or some shit like that. My ex was a school teacher and she had students who would say "I don't need to learn to read or do math because I can make more money than you (the teacher) just by going to work in the mines". If you can't tell, obesity is also a huge problem in this region. You'll notice how these folks express how blessed they feel. It's easy to feel blessed and content when every day you are way out in the mountains, surrounded by so many forests with critters and creeks and cliffs and waterfalls that are amazing in each season and it seems like all the problems in the world, all the business and places on tv are a completely different world, a million miles away. But that becomes a problem when it makes folks really resistant to any change or any outsiders, and they stay stuck in the past and stuck in their holler. They imagine that "the good ol days" when mines were open were so great when really those good ol days were still filled with poverty and ill health compared to everywhere else in the country. WV and places like Ivanhoe in VA have lost so much population, especially younger folks like me, that it really is a crisis. For folks who stay, their best option is often to find a way to get on disability. The central Appalachian region around WV, KY, and western VA has the highest rate of disability in the country. It has the highest rate of obesity and drug addiction, and tobacco use as well. But after so many years of trying to help folks get trained for good jobs, get them healthy and off painkillers, off Mountain Dew, off tobacco, a person like me eventually has to say to them, you know, you make your bed so you have to lie in it. If you're poor and obese and addicted, you need to change that yourself instead of always saying how blessed you are and then in the next sentence mourning about the sad state of your community. There have been opportunities for many of these folks but the attitude is often "we don't need none of that fancy college or trades! My grandpappy was a miner and he fed his 8 kids just fine, so I should be one too!" And then when the mine closes they just leave behind a ruined economy and a bunch of polluted creeks and flattened mountains. It happens time and time again but folks never change. I feel so bad for the little girls here because they are going to grow up around fools like those meth heads and klansman and many will never leave the holler, they'll just hear how much better they have it than those fancy city folks or all those folks who could could never make it living in the mountains. I have a real love/hate relationship with my home. This video doesn't even touch on the opioid epidemic, and Appalachia is ground zero for that. I went to a high school with 300 kids and by the time I was 30 I knew over 40 my age who overdosed on painkillers. It hit that region hard before it spread to the rest of the country. That's why they call it "hillbilly heroin". And believe me, Donald Trump isn't going to bring these places into the 21st century. The coal industry isn't going to come back and make them all rich. The coal industry may have employed young men in the past but the coal industry also waged war against them when they asked just to be paid in real money instead of mine scrit. There are plenty of documentaries about the WV mine wars on this website. I don't know what the solution for Appalachia is but folks need to let go of coal and they need to take care of their health and environment and they need to place value on education and modern jobs. That will never happen as long as they have these conflicting ideas that they are somehow so blessed but also so cursed. It won't happen if they wait for their religion to fix everything and it won't happen as long as they blame everyone else for their problems, especially outsiders and governments. EDIT: Formatting UPDATE: Wow I didn't realize this post had so many responses. I went back to Concord 4 months ago (first time in 10 years!) to see some family and friends and do some rafting and some hiking in those beautiful mountains in the most beautiful season there, autumn. I still feel so at home once I get out into the mountains there, but then when you get to the nearest town you see the devastation. Beckley, Oak Hill, Hinton, all of these are towns in southern WV that once had maybe 20,000 - 30,000 people at their peaks but are now nearly abandoned and main street boarded up. All that's left is Walmart up the interstate. Once you get away from where the towns used to be and into the mountains where there never was a town, then it's like life and the world is gone and it's just you in that beautiful little holler... it's easy to forget the state of the community once you get isolated deep in the forest and have your own little creek whispering to you and your dog each morning outside. Despite my frustration, I really do love it there and have so many great relationships with people there still. I would encourage anyone reading this to do like I did and get a few nights at a park there and spend your days in the mountains. I recommend Pipestem, Hawk's Nest, or Twin Falls state parks because they are right next to rafting country and have many waterfalls to see and great spots for swimming and hiking. Anyways, thanks for all of the responses.

Don’t matter if you live in Appalachia or Detroit... sometimes if you want opportunity you gotta MOVE.

Every dead mine town in america supposedly has the same curse.

Random man: "Im the imperial wizard of the Virginia knights of the klu klux Klan" Me: ight, imma head out 😂

"I'm not a crank head. I'm not a drug dealer, really." 😂

“Let's all fight together to get our Post Office back.” God damn. I don't know what to say.

Ladies and gentlemen we just witness the danger of depending on one investment to feed your whole town

That was one of the best sales pitches iv ever heard ......”iv seen crank help people” 🤔

I loved this documentary. It had a rawness that many documentaries do not have. I felt like i was there with those people. Amazing!

Keep riding that bike kid don't look back !

“I’m not saying I’m a crank head...I’ve done crank...might do it again” 😂🤣😂

No one else caught that they named the elementary school after the pastor who cursed the whole town? 😂😂😂

Old white dude in the video-“I’m a klans man” Me: Weird flex but ok

Fantastic coverage. Nothing was hidden, just a small community persevering through struggle and change with all of it's flaws intact. I wish media would do more stories like this instead of inflaming tensions among ourselves.

11:30 aw, he seems like a nice man. 1 minute later: I'm the imperial wizard of the Virginia knights of the ku klux klan... eeeeeeh....nvm.

Wow. He just comes out with "I'm a clansman!" Followed by.... "we're a Christian organization." Really?? People like this still exist?!

When you think you got it bad, watching something like this, makes you real greatful for what you do have.

These mountains can bring peace and beauty, but the struggle can also bring evil. At 41, I've lived in East Tennessee mountains all my life. I've been married 19 years and have 17 year old twins. Rarely can you find marriages that hold strong, especially in my generation. Financial or addiction problems seem to plague many families within this region. I've told my children many times.. "get out of these mountains." People often say that's the wrong approach, but nothing is promising about a town with 16 loan/pawn shops within 2 miles. It's a peaceful region, yet you'll be hard pressed to find a mind at peace....

As someone who has lived in the cities, I'd like to settle down in a small, tightly knit community filled with kind and warm people... "Hi, I'm with the KKK." I think I'll be going back to be city.