Outliers and the Hillbilly Sterotype

Never understood that ain't no good, you shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you.

-Bob Dylan

Author Malcolm Gladwell's career path reminds me of 1970's rock star Peter Frampton.

In 1976, Peter Frampton released Frampton Comes Alive. Critically acclaimed, it was one of the biggest selling live albums of all time.

He followed up with I'm In You, a lesser effort. He then flamed out with the movie, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Gladwell's first book was The Tipping Point, a critically acclaimed best seller. The second, Blink, was a lesser effort.

His latest book, Outliers, is Gladwell's Sergeant Pepper. A total embarrassment. Frampton was embarrassing because he made bad choices and took bad drugs.

Gladwell's book is embarrassing because it is inane and plays on stereotypes.

I'm not sure what point Outliers is supposed to be making. He talks about hockey players, birth years and other random topics. He sucks up to some New York lawyers, including his agent.

I don't mind pointlessness or shout-outs to his buddies. Lot of authors write pointless book and butter-up their friends.

What I mind is his prejudice and hatred against the people of Appalachia.

Gladwell devotes an entire chapter of the book to Harlan, Kentucky. A place I am pretty familiar with. I've been there countless times and my daughters were born in an adjoining county.

Nothing suggests that Gladwell has been near Harlan, but that doesn't stop him from being an expert on it, anyway.

Although Outliers is subtitled, "The Story of Success," Gladwell thinks the people in Harlan are a bunch of losers. He calls it "a remote and strange place" and tells the story of a 1930's fight between the Turner family and the Howard family. He spends the rest of the chapter promoting a theory that people in Appalachia are more prone to violence than people in the north because of their "Scotch-Irish heritage."

Gladwell doesn't let facts get in the way of his theory. Thus, he doesn't cite any crime statistics at all.

I can see why. According to the Crime in Kentucky report issued by the Kentucky State Police, there was only one murder in Harlan County in 2007.

If the Howard's and the Turner's are still feuding, one of them is not shooting back.

There were 12 Harlan County robberies and 53 assaults. That number might rise to 54 if Gladwell ever sets foot there.

If someone in Harlan takes a swing at him, Gladwell is getting off easy. New York City had 494 murders that same year. Imagine if Gladwell attributed those killings to the ethnic heritage of the murderers. His publisher (Little, Brown and Company) would have mobs in front of its building.

Gladwell slopped the chapter together without a lot of research. As noted, he skipped statistics and personal interviews. He leans heavily on a book written in 1962 and an article written in 1949. He throws in a couple of studies and books from the1980's and 1990's.

Thus, this chapter in his 21st Century "Story of Success" does not reflect a single piece of research done in the 21st Century.

Lack of research doesn't stop him from pushing his prejudices anyway. He plays on the same stereotypes that color many people's view of Appalachia and which come from television comedies like The Beverly Hillbillies.

The Beverly Hillbillies was the second most outrageous caricature to come out of the 1960's. (It's impossible to be worse than Hogan Heroes, which turned Nazis into a bunch of stumbling, funny men.)

Something else was going on the 1960's - the civil rights movement. The decade started with segregated restaurants and restrooms and ended with the assassination of Martin Luther King. Lots of good was done during that time period. It was a major step in a journey that led to the first African-American being elected President of the United States.

When Barack Obama is sworn in as president on January 20, it should be the day that Americans stop making bigoted generalizations about people whom they know little or nothing about. It's time to stop perpetrating stereotypes about race, religion, heritage, nationality, disabilities and sexual preferences.

It's time to stop demeaning the people of Appalachia, too.

Appalachian crusaders, such as Gurney Norman, have made tremendous strides in keeping The New Beverly Hillbillies television show off the air and the Kentucky Cycle out of theaters.

Like Peter Frampton, Gladwell is coasting on the success of his previous work. That's not a bad money making strategy. The book is on the best seller list.

I would like to see Gladwell test his theory about Southerners being more prone to violence than Northerners. A good way to do it would be for Gladwell to walk the streets at midnight in urban areas that have the same economic and unemployment challenges as those of Harlan.

If he survives that, I invite Mr. Gladwell to come to Harlan, do some readings of his book, and have a heaping helping of their hospitality.

Hillbilly that is. Set a spell. Take your shoes off. Y'all come back now, y'hear.

Don McNay is the founder of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Kentucky. You can read his award winning, syndicated financial column at www.donmcnay.com or write to him at [e-mail] McNay is the author of Son of a Son of a Gambler and The Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher. He is also proud to have been named a Kentucky Colonel and an honorary Duke of Hazard.

Follow Don McNay on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Comments

[DeaRiley]

As the chair of the Appalachian Roundtable, a not for profit serving towards the socioeconomic betterment of Appalachia, I believe Mr. Gladwell's title would have better read "Out and Out Liars" in regards to his Appalachian references.

Our organization would gladly accept any contribution Mr. Gladwell would care to make towards the continuing preservation of this naturally beautiful, culture filled area.

Thank you Mr. Don McNay for informing the readers of the truth and pointing out the obvious!

[orionxl]

Glad to see Don McNay is on Huffington now. My roots are also in Appalachia though I've since spent years upon years in both New York City and D.C. I've been continually surprised that those in big cities are generally just as poorly traveled as are people from small towns in terms of visiting other regions of the U.S. I grew up in Bell County, KY which is very close to Harlan. Harlan used to be a booming town flush with coal money but has since fallen on hard times which have lasted for decades. The rest of Appalachia is much the same, poor, poor, poor. I fail to see why those who are poor in Appalachia should be treated with any less mercy or understanding than those from SE D.C. or those living off Walnut Avenue in Yonkers, NY. There is a strong progressive movement in Appalachia however it doesn't look the same as those around the rest of the country. I think that's fine. I'm just glad it's happening at all.

Also, not everyone in Appalachia is a fan of Palin and many who acted like they were did so for cultural reasons rather than explicit ideological ones. When Obama said "cling to God and guns" he was describing what poor people always do which is cling to their own culture. Condemning them for that universally human response or Mr. McNay for being offended is a failure of both empathy and imagination.

[Clavis]

The Daily Show crew walked around the RNC this year and asked people what the endemic phrase "small-town values" actually meant. The answers seemed to consist of three themes:

1. "No Gay Marriage!"
2. "You know... the values that... people from small towns... have..."
3. "Um..."

As near as I can tell, rural areas are noteworthy because the populace tends to be uneducated, culturally hyper-conservative and essentially lacking in perspective of any kind. Oh, and they are possessed of a baseless pride.

As evidenced by the pro-Palin crowds, "Appalachians" seem to embody a spirit that says, "We don't think we're better than other people, the way those cityfolk do... and that's what makes us better than them!" The inherent contradiction -- the inherent double-standard of "we're proud of being humble" -- never seems to occur to them. But I guess that would take education or perspective.

[larry278]

Gladwell's blog gives a few of the reasons why people from Harlan, Ky avoid outsiders. There are many more reasons why the people of Harlan feel that they have become a maligned stereotype & aren't treated as if they were human beings by the MSM.

[NitramNos]

It would be helpful if you adjusted statistics for population when you make comparisons. The number of murders and others crimes is more meaningful if expressed as a percentage of total population.

[georgietwodogs]

Georgia, part of which is in Appalachia, just reelected Saxby Chambliss to the U. S. Senate. That is voting against their economic reality. Too many southerners are still high on Jesus and drunk on ignorance.

[lsbskins1]

I say this with great sadness, because my family roots are in Appalachia as well, but though it may be debateble that our people are more violent, it is hardly so that they tend towards being, how shall I say it...less than progressive. Tell 'em your brother just got out of jail and they will drop off some food for you because they tend to be a supportive bunch, as long as he wasn't in jail on a sodomy charge. Tell 'em you voted for Barack Obama, and they will inform you, you will be roasting in hell. The "progressive" ones think that because they think he isn't a Christian. The others just can't believe you voted 'agin yer own. I love my "peeps" for the ways that they are good, but let's not kid ourselves, they can be kind of back'ards.

[radmul]

You claim his impression is wrong then you joke about him being subjected to violence if he goes there. Believe I will pass on both.

[skippy20008]

Gladwell writes well and I enjoy reading him...for the anecdotes about people, and not his theories. His theories fall into three categories:

1. THE OBVIOUS (e.g., people who work the hardest are most likely to succeed. Gee, really?)
2. THE DUBIOUS (e.g., the Beatles success is due more to fortunate circumstances than hard work and talent.)
3. THE CONTRADICTORY (e.g. first impressions are valuable, except when they aren't. Uh...okay.)

[mommadona]

Voting against their economic realities..
"faith-based" rather than reality-based = just plain dumb.

Dumb is as dumb does.
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