I cannot believe this! Whitwell is not in Appalachia!!!!!!!!! Talk about people not understanding others!!!!!!! I have to agree with everybody else and say that it was a touching story, however, it also helped stereotype southerners as inbred, redneck, white trash lacking a sufficient education! I grew up not even fifty miles from this place, and I can assure you that most people in the south fully understand the severity of the holocaust and wear shoes! Also, I would like to know how a town with few minorities can be considered segregated? It's not like there are "white" restrooms in the local diner! There just aren't many other races who want to live there! Off the subject for a second, did anyone else realize that the director's last name is Berlin, talk about irony. This film does not represent the majority of people in the south. I could go on and on about all the things wrong with this documentary, but the internet isn't big enough. Please do not judge all southerners based on this film. Yes, we do have some people who can be considered uneducated, but so does the rest of the world.
Wow. You have quite a chip on your shoulder.
Do you know what the Appalachian region of the U.S. is? Check out this map on Wikipedia and you’ll see that Whitwell falls within Appalachia, as described in the film.
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia
Why would you think that people would look at Whitwell and conclude that all southerners were ” inbred, redneck, white trash lacking a sufficient education ? I thought the people of Whitwell were refreshingly honest and genuine about the townspeople’s strengths and weakness as a community . You seem to be embarrassed by it.
You need to do some reading. The word segregate is not a political term. It means separate or isolated. The word was used to describe the town itself, not the people within it. Nobody said Whitwell was a racially segregated community.
I know a lot of people from Tennessee, mostly living in more urban areas. While most “wear shoes”, as you say, I have met people in Nashville and Memphis who have told me they’ve never met a Jew. (Not realizing at the time they were talking to one.) Although I’m sure they’ve met Jews and didn’t realize it, the fact is that by far the majority of American Jews live in Northern cities. That segregation of the population leads to unfamiliarity and ignorance of the culture, which is totally understandable. The people of Whitwell decided to do something about it. They accepted the fact that they needed further education and enlightenment on the topic and acted upon it. I admire that effort. You should be proud of that effort, not ashamed by it.
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