A Letter from a Hillbilly to Dilbert Creator

The following is a letter to Dilber creator, Scott Adams, from a college professor about Mr. Adams treatment of drunken hillbillies.
I offer my insights in italics.


Inebriated Hillbillies are not Funny

In a recent Dilbert strip I featured an inebriated hillbilly. Dogbert kicked him off a log and into a ravine. I know you’re thinking “That’s just like my job.” But you’re wrong because people don’t write you letters telling you that you are insensitive. Here’s a link to the comic, and below it is a letter objecting to my depiction of hillbillies.
http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20060218.html
And the letter…

Dear Mr. Adams,
I am writing in regards to the “Dilbert” cartoon that was published in the Gazette-Mail in Charleston, West Virginia on Saturday, February 18th.
I have long enjoyed your cartoon strip, having spent eight years at Marshall University confined to a tiny cubicle (even though I was a full professor) and having to track the amount of paper I used due to budget constraints.

Notice how the professor starts out explaining that the college has restricted her use of paper. Since defending the hillbilly is a waste of paper, I applaud the financial acumen of Marshall, but, question their hiring practices. And, come on... like you'd give someone who's studying the hillbilly an office... you'd give them the academic equivalent of a shack. Nicely done.

I am currently the co-director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia and teach in the Appalachian Studies graduate certificate program at Marshall’s graduate college. One of my interests is the ways in which stereotypes of Appalachians in the general culture have rationalized and justified the historic mistreatment of Appalachians as an ethnic group.

First, hillbillies don't belong to Appalachia any more; they belong to the world, thanks to poor breeding, increased government subsidization, and a resurgence of interest in the Dukes of Hazzard. Their historic mistreatment comes less from urgings of comic strips than from their historic role as social pariahs.

Your cartoon “killed” an inebriated hillbilly. He was lying on a log with a jug at his side (probably moonshine?) and wearing bib overalls. He was booted off the log into a chasm and a certain fate. Now, let me ask you a question. Would you have drawn that cartoon of a drunk Irishman, a Jew, a black person, an Hispanic person? I doubt it very much.

I would agree with this statement. It is an unfair treatment of modern hillbillies. Modern hillbillies are more apt to be snorting meth than drinking moonshine. Shame on you, Mr. Adams. It is interesting to note that the professor took one look at a fat, passed-out schmuck and immediately went... "It's a hillbilly!"

Most Americans are by now sensitized to the damage that such stereotypes represent for minority groups. And yet you, as well as many others, still feel free to picture hillbillies (translate: Appalachians) in this way.

Again, Mr. Adams portrayal of a hillbilly is universal, not meant to offend one geographic area.


I would like to urge you to look at the most recent issue of the National Geographic. There is an article there on mountaintop removal and the ecological, cultural and social damage that it is visiting upon the mountains and their people. I would argue that most Americans have ignored this disaster-in-the-making for so long because there is a general agreement that hillbillies are of less worth—“useless” human beings. Your cartoon confirms that sense.

Useless is not the proper term. It suggests that the hillbilly has a neutral effect on society. A more accurate term would be "detrimental"--which defines the negative impact the hillbilly has on society. As for mountaintop removal, I am against anything that may cause the hillbilly to migrate into my neighborhood.

I would be the first to acknowledge that some Appalachians are alcoholics and wear bib overalls. But I suspect that there are many other people in this country that would fit that description as well.

Yes, they are hillbillies, too.

We are a proud people--closely tied to our land—who have given this country music, literature, and social movements that raised the standard of living for all of us. Why is it that television and the print media are so focused on only our social problems? Or see us only negatively?
I appreciate your taking my comments under consideration. This is not meant as a personal attack, but hopefully will be educational for you. I would be glad to recommend a reading list for you or email you some material.

It's not always the media that's to blame for this negativity. It's the fact that while maybe some hillbillies are tied to the land, probably tied there by their drunken husbands; others insist on interacting with us. If you really want to help the Hillbilly, go back to your hills, get them off welfare, give them a shower, and teach them some manners.

Sincerely,Lynda Ann Ewen, PhDProfessor Emerita of Sociology, Marshall University
Co-Director, Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia
Editor, Series of “Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia,” Ohio University Press