“They Wanted to Get Me Out of That Area, and They Did”
Recalling Racial Histories in the Central Appalachian Region
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24216997 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jacob E Robinson (0000-0002-7835-6619), Marion Repetti (0000-0002-1328-321X), Mélody Pralong, Rachel Wagner (0000-0001-9741-5533) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of African American Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1559-1646 • E-ISSN: 1936-4741 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12111-026-09743-x |
| OpenAlex | W7214207517 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 20 |
The Central Appalachian region has long been characterized by widespread economic deprivation. While some economic improvement has been noted in recent years, the region continues to face significant challenges related to poverty exacerbated by historical processes of extraction, exploitation, and deindustrialization. Poverty in Central Appalachia is not experienced equally, as intersecting factors of class and race differentially impact the people residing in the region. African American communities have faced racial disadvantages during periods of industrial growth and decline. This study investigates how systemic racism and classism shape experiences of poverty among older adults in the region. Drawing on qualitative research with deprived older adults in Central Appalachia, the article reveals how race and class power relations intertwine in older adults’ past and present lives. The conclusion advocates for more recognition of race as a fundamental social structure shaping life histories and present-day experiences of poorer White and African American people.
African American community · Central Appalachia · classism · Deindustrialization · economic hardship · extraction · life history (social science method) · older adults · Poverty · race and class intersection · racial disadvantage · systemic racism · Appalachian Studies and Mathematics · Race, History, and American Society · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
What About Mozart? What About Murder?
The Wages of Whiteness
Anti-Blackness, Black Geographies, and Racialized Depopulation in Coalfield Appalachia from 1940 to 2000
Gone Home
Olivier DE Sardan, Jean-Pierre, 2008, La rigueur du qualitatif. Les contraintes empiriques de l’interprétation socio-anthropologique
Race and inequality at work
Rural old-age social exclusion
The Life History Calendar
The Impact of Slavery on Racial Inequality in Poverty in the Contemporary U.S. South
Community, solidarity, and poverty in mountain regions
Settler Colonialism as Structure
Getting Extreme Poverty Narrated
Poverty in America
The Dimensions of Poverty
| Highly cited | No |
|---|