You won’t win over West Virginians by taking cheap shots at the Mountain State

There’s a little section of X that many of us still refer to as West Virginia Twitter even though the social media site has changed its name.

West Virginia Twitter talks about a variety of topics, but everyone really comes together whenever someone says something negative about the Mountain State. 

Last week, it was about an interview with an author originally from Hurricane who said, “I have a weird relationship to the English language because I’m from West Virginia and I didn’t read a real book until I was 18. Then I went to Yale… “  

Be for real. 

Look, we all can understand not liking West Virginia. There are days I love this place, and there are days I hate it — especially when the Legislature is in session. But there’s no need to make up things to talk badly about the state.

One X user, @drewwhite9, responded, “Complete BS, she wasn’t out in the sticks, she was in between WV’s two largest urban areas Charleston & Huntington, a stretch called Metro Valley bc about 380K ppl live in that ~50 mile around. She received a fine education with plenty of ‘real books’.”

Complete BS, she wasn’t out in the sticks, she was in between WV’s two largest urban areas Charleston & Huntington, a stretch called Metro Vally bc about 380K ppl live in that ~50 mile around. She received a fine education with plenty of “real books”.

— Drew

(@DrewWhite9) April 10, 2024

Another X user, @kaylynstagram, posted, “you can actually have a grasp on the english language and read ‘real’ books AND still be proud of your appalachian heritage

you can actually have a grasp on the english language and read “real” books AND still be proud of your appalachian heritage

like what is this take lmfao??? rural librarians are working overtime to provide for communities with little funding and you say THIS https://t.co/frl21Rpmqq

— kay ♡ (@kaylynstagram) April 10, 2024

Is the state unhealthy? Yes. Is everything from emergency services and volunteer fire departments to public schools to colleges to jails underfunded? Yes. Is there still an opioid problem? Yes. Does the Legislature focus on culture war issues instead of doing much to improve the state? Yes.

But do schools really not assign real books to children to read? Of course they do. This writer’s high school had an AP English program. I also attended high school in Putnam County and was assigned multiple “real” books in my honors and AP English classes — “The Great Gatsby,” “Animal Farm,” “Emma,” “The Canterbury Tales,” the works of William Shakespeare, etc.

To make this claim while libraries are under attack is also insulting to the librarians who went to the Legislature to fight against the proposed obscenity bill that died during session. 

West Virginians are some of the most loyal people when they see other West Virginians succeed. 

Actress Jennifer Garner, a Charleston native, is West Virginia’s sweetheart. Everyone gets so excited when she’s in town and they spot her (and for the most part are respectful of her privacy). When she recently did an episode of WeWalkDogs with another Charleston native Matt Nelson, creator of WeRateDogs, it was a great day for social media in West Virginia. We love wholesome state-related content, especially when good dogs are involved.

Jerry West, aka The Logo, who grew up in Chelyan is probably still the reason there’s so many Lakers fans in West Virginia.

If you attended high school in West Virginia, you most certainly read “Rocket Boys” by Homer Hickam of Coalwood. (And if you were lucky, your English teacher let you watch “October Sky” in class, too.)

When WWE hosted a house show (meaning it wasn’t televised) in December 2022 at the Charleston Coliseum, Hanover-native Jamie Noble made a one-night-only return to the ring for his final match. Now, this was a more specific version of West Virginia Twitter, but West Virginia Wrestling Twitter was pumped. 

We’ll basically make you an honorary West Virginian if you stop here once and say nice things.

Musician Tyler Childers is from Kentucky, but played lots of shows in West Virginia, and you better not say anything negative about him here.

Anthony Bourdain traveled to the state for his show, “Parts Unknown” in 2017. During his time here he tweeted, “This place moves me like very, very few other places. And I been everywhere. #WestVirginia.” When he died, West Virginians mourned like we lost one of our own.

As my co-worker Lori Kersey said, it takes so little to endear us to you.

If this writer had simply said, I grew up in West Virginia and had a rough time there, most people would probably understand, and consider buying their book.

But the quickest way to rile up a West Virginian is to make a cheap joke about the state.

Remember that time Bette Midler tried to call out Sen. Joe Manchin for not supporting the Build Back Better plan, and posted that West Virginia was “Poor, illiterate and strung out.” Gov. Jim Justice even told Midler to kiss Babydog’s heinie. 

Comedian Whitney Cummings appeared on a late night talk show and punched down on the state when she told a story about learning she was actually from West Virginia and not western Virginia. She explained to the host, “There’s a big difference between Virginia and West Virginia, like four chromosomes difference.” She also said she has “hillbilly DNA.”

After West Virginia Twitter went on and on about how not funny they found Cummings, she issued an apology, saying that it was just a joke, she loves the state, “it’s the most beautiful place on earth …” The post from 2019 only has 10 likes. 

West Virginia is a complicated place to live. And it’s fair to make complaints about the state — I do it weekly in my column. But it’s unnecessary to play up the untrue stereotypes.