Appalachian stereotypes
The Appalachian region and its people are mostly viewed negatively due to the "Appalachian Stereotype". According to Stuart Hall, a scholar of cultural studies, a stereotype can be described as using images, tools, and identity to understand why people make certain judgments. These are generalizations that people, especially those that live outside the region, have towards the place and its inhabitants. Historically, media sources have played a significant role in promoting these stereotypes. Due to this, the world outside the region largely views the Appalachian area as lawless, violent, and uneducated. History of Appalachia. The first inhabitants of  the Appalachian region were Native Americans, such as the Powhatan, Saponi, Monacan, and Cherokee groups. The people of Appalachia can trace their ancestral background from the large migration of Scotch-Irish where their ancestors used to live. The Scotch-Irish moved to the region, as well as the African-Americans who were set free from slavery. The population kept on growing as more communities migrated to Appalachia. One of the biggest populations that the region ever recorded was around 1870 to 1950. Notably, the increased population growth resulting from the expansion of coal mining attracted various immigrants. Despite there being  hopes of providing a rich lifestyle to the coal mine workers, they lived under low life standards due to poverty. Miners were paid by the ton of coal produced, instead of an hourly rate. Due to this, the economy stayed poor and struggled to allow the region to prosper. Pre-civil war era, the majority of the miners within the Appalachian region were of Irish, Scottish, or Welsh descent. As they struggled to deal with the low wage, workers started to create unions and benevolent societies. The Workingmen's Benevolent Society won some concessions regarding class tensions, insufficient wages, and  poor living conditions, but none were enough to make significant differences. This generated violence from the miners. After the Civil War, violence arose between the people of the Appalachian region and the state militia, causing the deaths of hundreds. Continued conflicts between the coal mine workers and the mine owners and operators caused massacres such as the Matewan massacre. Stereotypes of Appalachians. Appalachian individuals are perceived largely to be impoverished, white, rural, lazy, and rough around the edges. Appalachians are also stereotyped to be hillbillies. NPR describes the stereotypical portrayal of Appalachians as "children in sepia-toned clothes with dirt -smeared faces. Weathered, sunken-eyed women on trailer steps chain-smoking Camels. Teenagers clad in Carhartt and Mossy Oak loitering outside long-shuttered businesses." Other common Appalachian stereotypes include inbreeding, poor dental hygiene, and wearing no shoes. The traditional Appalachian dialect and accent also comes with a slew of stereotypes and consequences for those who bear it. Those with Appalachian accents or who use Appalachian dialect are perceived to be less educated and less wealthy. There is also the incorrect theory that Appalachian English is closely related to Elizabethan English, or that it has not progressed far past Elizabethan English . These stereotypes harm the access to opportunities and impressions of Appalachian people outside of Appalachia. As a result of these negative stereotypes, thousands of people from the Appalachian region face judgment and, intense scrutiny on a daily basis. During the appraisal called "Community Action in Appalachia" during the War on Poverty, it was found that the population of those who wanted a change in how they lived was split into two. The group helped provide community centers throughout Appalachia, with hopes of allowing individuals to become more educated and view other, newer technologies created by society. Some embraced the new  ideals and modernism provided by the community centers created, and others annexed them with the thought that government intervention was not needed within their area. After the appraisal was finished, very little changed and development was recorded. Small instances across the counties, but nothing caused significant change. This created a new view on Appalachia, and it caused many to believe that the Appalachians simply did not want to change and did not embrace new parts of modern society. Most of these stereotypes come from things of the past. The rough look of those who live in the Appalachian region comes  from times in the late 1800s when Appalachia was hit with a depression due to economic over expansion, decrease in money supply, and a stock crash. It also arises from the look of miner, who would come home looking very dirty and worn because of the conditions they were working under in the mines. After the appraisal "Community Action in Appalachia", the public started to view the region as underdeveloped and stuck in the past. Due to the fact that the region is heavily dependent on labor jobs, majority of people do not feel the need to go past a  high school education, thus causing the stereotype that Appalachian individuals are uneducated. Discrimination against Appalachian individuals. Discrimination against Appalachians is significant enough that some municipalities, such as Cincinnati, have enacted laws making it illegal to discriminate against peoples of Appalachian identity. The Human Rights Ordinance policy was passed in 1992 by the City of Cincinnati, proclaiming it forbidden to discriminate against characteristics such as race, national origin, sex, religion. Before the policy was declared, the U.S. District Court declined the admission of Appalachians in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Appalachia's social, cultural, and economic features establish an identity  that consistently defines characteristics that infuse prejudices and distinguishes them from other minority groups. The Appalachians are often victims of locational prejudice, where people often discriminate against due to their location and where they identify as home. The people of Appalachia are stereotyped as the poor White minority, tending to fuse Appalachia into one community, one state, which would make Appalachia the third largest state in the nation due to population. Derogatory language against Appalachians includes the terms "Redneck" and "Hillbilly." These terms often come up in comedic use, stereotyped as the role of the "hillbilly fool". The term "Hillbilly  was first coined in 1899, around the time coal industries made an appearance in the Appalachian communities. In reference to Appalachia, the utilization of the word Hillbilly" has become such a commonplace that the term is often used to characterize the sociological and geographical happenings of the area. A major example of this occurrence is the characterization of the emigration of residents of the Appalachian Mountains to industrial cities in northern, midwestern, and western states, primarily in the years following World War II as the "Hillbilly Highway". The term Redneck is often met with pride among mountain people. For many  years, the term "Mountain Whites" existed as an official Library of Congress Subject Heading. Criticized for its false representation of Appalachia as a racially homogeneous region and because it was a term applied by outsiders to a group of people who do not necessarily identify as a specific ethnic group, it was replaced with the subject heading "Appalachians (people)". Within the region, discrimination against women is also a very big issue. Due to Appalachia being known for their coal mining industry it makes it difficult for women to find well-paying jobs. Many women have to settle for working "unskilled  labor.