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Stereotyping Appalachians only feeds the coal Industry

As a fifth-generation coal miner, I see the region’s Trump signs and pro-coal stickers as symbols of defense against a world that looks down on us.

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NickMullins.jpg
NickMullins.jpg

Credit: YES! Magazine/by ridvan_celik / iStock. All rights reserved.

President Trump won the vote in Appalachia because people are tired of being looked down on. Considering the work of powerful industry interests, a century’s worth of negative stereotyping, and culturally insensitive protests against coal—a source of people’s pride, heritage, and income—it’s not difficult to understand how.