J.D. Vance was born in Jackson, KY, the county seat of Breathitt County. His family had to make the choice of whether to stay in the hills and try to make a living or to move north to find work. Vance’s mother, Bev, was in and out of many relationships, and marriages which all crumbled due to her personal instability. She was also addicted to painkillers, so the real stability in his life was provided by his grandparents, known to the family as “Mamaw and Papaw”. When drug addiction finally consumed his mom, Vance moved in with his Mamaw, whom he credits for taking care of and encouraging him. She stressed the importance of education and provided the strength and stability his mom could not, all in a no-nonsense, and a “smack you upside the head”, literally, kind of way.
In his memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis’, Vance uses the experiences of his own family to describe the challenges facing hillbillies in general, and the statistical realities bring out the validity of this approach. Hillbilly culture is being destroyed by drug addiction, broken marriages, fatherless children, failing schools from a lack of economic opportunities, and a vanishing sense of personal responsibility. As Vance puts it, “There is a lack of agency here, a feeling that you have little control over your life and a willingness to blame everyone but yourself”.
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For all of these reasons and more, hillbilly culture is the most controversial culture in society. Vance frequently mentions how ‘mean’ people could be, especially his Mamaw. His Papaw came home drunk pretty frequently, so his Mamaw warned him that the next time this happened, she would kill him. “A week later, he came home drunk again and fell asleep on the couch. Mamaw, never one to tell a lie, calmly retrieved a gasoline canister from the garage, poured it all over her husband, lit a match, and dropped it on his chest. When Papaw burst into flames, their eleven-year-old daughter jumped into action to put out the fire and save his life. Miraculously, Papaw survived the episode with only mild burns”.
Stories like this seem to be pretty common among hillbillies, kids in single-parent homes, or raised by their grandparents, facing environments in which alcohol and drugs are overwhelming. What many people don’t realize is how similar these dynamics are to some of the challenges African American culture faces. People from outside of these two cultures would never imagine that African Americans in inner cities have anything in common with hillbillies, but statistics show that the communities are very similar. The reality is, those who obsess over ‘white privilege’ assume that the experience of white people is one-dimensional, which is absurd. They also assume that white people cannot even begin to understand or sympathize with the challenges African Americans have faced. It is fair to say that white people have rarely encountered racism and slavery, and if they did, little of it. However, hillbilly people do know the burn of social stereotypes and ethnic judgments. And due to economic realities, hillbillies face the same pressures and challenges that many African Americans face. Vance even mentions how a book he read in high school by William Julius Wilson called ‘The Truly Disadvantaged’ related to him: “He wasn’t writing about the hillbilly transplants from Appalachia, he was writing about the black people in the inner cities”. Vance also cites: “It was not simply that the Appalachian migrants, as rural strangers ‘out of place’ in the city, were upsetting to Midwestern, urban whites. Rather, these migrants disrupted a broad set of assumptions held by northern whites about how white people appeared, spoke, and behaved… Ostensibly, they were of the same racial order (whites) as those who dominated economic, political, and social power in local and national arenas. But hillbillies shared many regional characteristics with the southern blacks arriving in Detroit”.
The most important part of Vance’s book is his reflection on why his story turned out so differently from the expectations set by the statistics piled against him. Vance is a Yale Law graduate and a successful investor. How did that happen to a hillbilly? Vance reflects on all the pieces that fell into place for him. “When I look back at my life, what jumps out is how many variables had to fall in place in order to give me a chance. There was my grandparents’ constant presence. . . Even with her faults, Mom instilled in me a lifelong love of education and learning. My sister always protected me…There were teachers, distant relatives, and friends”. Vance was instilled with the idea that his choices matter. Lots of hillbillies feel trapped and that the statistics are so stacked against them that it doesn’t make any difference what they do. They are hopeless, and perfectly okay with blaming their problems on politics or the establishment of other countries. It is what Vance refers to as ‘learned helplessness’. But his Mamaw convinced him that even though life is unfair, and even though the rich and powerful have connections and advantages that people like us do not, it is still possible to be successful, that his choices really mattered, and that he could make a better life.
Vance’s family, like most hillbillies, were not big on organized religion. His Mamaw was a faithful Bible reader, but she had the same distrust of churches and preachers that lots of people from the hills share. As Vance points out, while hillbillies may live in the ‘Bible Belt’, their regular church attendance is actually very low.
The chief problem with hillbilly culture at its worst is its spiritual poverty, its allergy to accountability, and its impulse toward isolation. Vance is absolutely right that the solution to the crisis in hillbilly culture is ultimately not going to come from the government. It must come from within.
One thing is obvious, Vance’s mother’s rotating relationships and drug use caused major instability, throwing off the family’s balance of cohesion from the start. Mamaw served as a guardian to Vance, giving him love and support when he needed it most. When Bev was unable to properly care for him, it was Mamaw who shouldered the burden of raising Vance. Importantly, she also encouraged him to pursue higher education, which ultimately helped him escape poverty. This is clearly a family strength knowing Mamaw took Vance in and raised him while encouraging him to work hard and do better. Her support and encouragement clearly had an impact on Vance. Mamaw was clearly a very strong figure in the family. “There were three rules in her house: get good grades, get a job, and ‘get off your a** and help me’”.
Papaw was a vicious drinker, which weighed heavily on the family, however, he ultimately was able to quit drinking. Papaw was a very influential figure in Vance’s life because he promoted the importance of education, taking the time to sit down with his grandson after school each day to quiz him on increasingly difficult mathematical equations. He insisted that Vance should make his money with his mind, not his hands. Vance also made it clear that despite his drinking, Papaw was also dedicated to making sure Vance succeeded in his schoolwork.
I believe overall, despite his controversial background, the support and encouragement from Mamaw and Papaw made all the difference. The society you live in can have a negative effect on your life, but the support received by family can help keep you on track. I admire Mamaw and Papaw’s dedication to Vance and find his success very impressive. You can see that there may be controversial opinions on his hillbilly background, but he is not ashamed, nor afraid to admit the raw truth. I hope everyone can learn to embrace their roots, no matter where they came from. This family is definitely ‘different’, but their love and dedication to each other are all the same.
“[I] began to appreciate how lucky I was: born in the greatest country on earth, every modern convenience at my fingertips, supported by two loving hillbillies, and part of a family that, for all its quirks, loved me unconditionally”.
“Mamaw and Papaw taught me that we live in the best and greatest country on earth. This fact gave meaning to my childhood. Whenever times were tough – when I felt overwhelmed by the drama and the tumult of my youth – I knew that better days were ahead because I lived in a country that allowed me to make the good choices that others hadn’t. When I think today about my life and how genuinely incredible it is – a gorgeous, kind, brilliant life partner; the financial security that I dreamed about as a child; great friends and exciting new experiences – I feel overwhelming appreciation for these United States”.
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