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That, notwithstanding, I deeply resent the insinuation that these people are racist. Many of them ran underground railroad stations and fought for the Union in the Civil War. West Virginia, the center of Appalachia, was so pro-union that it split off from Virginia.

What I deeply resent is the insinuation that "pro-union" equates with being "non-racist."

And my heritage is deep into Applachia as well.

What I deeply resent is the insinuation that "pro-union" equates with being "non-racist."

That's not my insinuation, it is an insinuation of the enemedia-- which is why the examples I used was to hoist them on their own petards.

The motivations behind joining the Confederate or the Union side during the Civil War (or remaining neutral) were almost as varied as the people who made those choices.

Two bits of history the political elite love to suppress are these two facts:

Close to 250,000 African American soldiers fought on the Confederate side. Some were bribed with a promise of freedom; many were not. They included arms bearing soldiers as well as cooks and camp followers. Very interesting and credible research links have been posted on this very forum.
New Orleans had a substantial population of black slave owners. Many of them had grown rich in the slave trade, some in partnership with whites, some on their own. Then, as now, they were deeply embedded into the political machinery of the city. Even after the Union Army conquered and occupied the city, many of them added to their fortunes by smuggling trade goods to the Confederate Army. Few, if any, of the people in Appalachia had such opportunities. They were left even more impoverished by the war than most of the south.