20/20 report on poverty in Appalachia failed to show contrasts

40 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty in Appalachia. As a recent 20/20 special about Appalachia by Kentucky native Diane Sawyers clearly shows, we lost that war badly in several areas.

Since the program aired, I have heard various criticisms about it that often center on one of two areas.
The first is that Sawyers piece focused on the negative stereotypes in Appalachia and not on the strides that have been made over the last four decades. The second is that the program unfairly focuses on Appalachia when similar levels of poverty exist in major metropolitan areas.
For weeks I have been debating what to say about this program and the reaction to it, and I have come to a few of conclusions.

Perhaps the region would get better treatment by the big city media if we found a way of addressing the problems and the root causes of poverty once and for all. No. This isn’t something that will be easily done.
It’s not like Sawyers had to search long and hard to find people living in such poor conditions. I wish that she had. The reality is you can probably find people living in such conditions here in Whitley County. If you have doubts about that, then talk to a few teachers or social workers or counselors.

I’ve heard more than one story from school administrators about kids that routinely lose weight over holidays or over summer vacation because they don’t have enough food at home.
No. Social safety nets like the food stamp program don’t cover everything.

I wish people would get as outraged over poverty in the mountains or in the big cities as much as they do against shows and articles portraying our problems, which are still real for many children today.

It’s sad that we don’t.

Sawyers did an excellent job of showing Appalachia’s problems through the guise of several young people struggling for a better life or just to make it.

Where her piece and many others miss the mark is that they ignore the obvious contrasts in Appalachia.
We live in a land where one can drive less than five miles and see $100,000 homes next to rickety old shacks.

Williamsburg has a multi-million dollar waterpark. Corbin is preparing to open a brand new arena, which has a price tag of several million dollars.

Yet, just down the road in Jellico, Tenn., officials are struggling with financial problems.
You have areas between Corbin and Williamsburg like Woodbine, Rockholds and Faber where many people live below the poverty level while you have much more development just a few miles north and south of them.

Last year in McCreary County, Sheriff Gus Skinner was driving a cruiser pieced together from parts of two other old vehicles because of financial constraints. It was so unreliable that he thought about switching to his horse.

Thanks to volunteers here in Whitley County, he now has a much better vehicle to drive. The sheriff’s department donated an old SUV, others donated a new engine, paint, lights, sirens, and vocational students at Whitley County High School helped with some more free labor.

A question 20/20 and our federal and state officials need to be asking are why some areas of Appalachia are thriving relatively speaking while others cities, counties and communities next door still contain many of the stereotypes that are normally portrayed.

We need to ask ourselves how the lessons of one town or county can be applied to its neighbors. If we finally fix Appalachia’s problems, then I think the issue of how we are portrayed in national media will be something that takes care of itself.