Appalachian authors launch "Nix The Hillbillies" campaign

Appalachian authors Sharyn McCrumb, Homer Hickam and Scott Nicholson have launched a petition campaign against the proposed CBS show "The Real Beverly Hillbillies."

CBS has said it is conducting "hick hunts" in the Southern mountain region to find a multi-generational family that would be placed in a Beverly Hills mansion for the amusement of television audiences. The show concept has already been opposed by The United Steelworkers of America, The Communications Workers of America, The United Mine Workers of America, and nearly 50 members of the U.S. Congress, yet CBS is still exploring the idea.

The authors launched the "Nix The Hillbillies" campaign so that the region’s culturally diverse citizens can add their collective voice to the protest. The Appalachian Consortium in Boone, NC, will serve as the collection point for the petitions, which will then be forwarded to CBS and its parent company, Viacom.

The petition reads:

"Dear CBS President Leslie Moonves and Viacom President Mel Karmazin:

We, the undersigned, wish to voice our deep objections to the planned CBS show "The Real Beverly Hillbillies." We find the concept offensive not only to people of the Appalachian region, but also to Southerners and to any American who is impoverished or lives in a rural area. All of us are made poorer when cruel and erroneous stereotypes receive the blessing of mass media.

Substitute any other ethnic or cultural slur in the title for "hillbillies" and see if such an insensitive show would ever appear on national television. CBS is publicly licensed and operates on airwaves that belong to the American public. We expect more from an organization whose messages go a long way toward forming and defining people’s perceptions of a region they may know little about. We ask that you cancel the show immediately. Thank you for your attention."

McCrumb, author of the award-winning Appalachian BALLAD novels, said, "If people really want to understand the culture and political heritage of Appalachia, the program to watch is not ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’, it is ‘Braveheart,’ because that antagonism between flat lander and mountain dweller, English and Celt, oppressor and oppressed goes back centuries beyond today's conflict. It has its roots in the ethnic clashes in Britain. That cultural dissonance is why there is a state of a West Virginia, and why you'll find the stereotyped image of the hillbilly in London cartoons about the Irish potato famine. I think two thousand years of being bullied is about enough."

Hickam is author of numerous books, including the #1 bestselling OCTOBER SKY, and is the son of a West Virginia coal miner. "Make no mistake," Hickam said. "The plan behind the so-called ‘Real Beverly Hillbillies’ is an assault on my culture, my parents, my teachers, and my friends. I therefore call on CBS Chairman Les Moonves to refute this act of outright bigotry and slander on some of his fellow Americans. If, however, his television network continues with the show, I call on Congress to intervene and consider pulling the license of CBS since it has shown an inability to use the public airwaves for the general public good."

"You get to a point when you’re tired of apologizing for having a Southern accent," said Nicholson, who is a journalist and writes Appalachian Gothic thrillers. "This petition will not only make CBS rethink its moral obligations, but also put potential advertisers on notice that they may not wish to offend a large portion of their market."

The petitions are being distributed through local writing organizations, independent bookstores and businesses, and non-profit rural advocacy agencies. The petition can be downloaded at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/nixhillbillies.htm

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For interviews, contact Sharyn McCrumb at mccrumb@infionline.net or 540-268-2807, Homer Hickam at hhickam@hiwaay.net or 256-880-7527, or Scott Nicholson at publicist@hauntedcomputer.com or 828-264-3612.

To learn more about the issue, visit http://www.ruralstrategies.org
More from Homer Hickam and additional links at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/nixhillbillies3.htm