Now, it's all mixed up. The tiny hollow Via calls home is smack in the middle of eastern McDowell County, which is one of West Virginia's most racially diverse neighborhoods. Drive 20 miles west of Via's house and you're in West Virginia's very, very least racially diverse neighborhood. It's always been that way, as long as anybody can remember. Via doesn't know, but she can guess.
Poor people tend to live near their work, while better-off people can afford to move to the suburbs.
Their children settled close by them. I don't think it was that black families couldn't go down and live there. Via raised four children in Elkhorn. All but one have college degrees, and all have held high-profile jobs out of state. Other families, too.