Outliers and Hatred Against Hillbillies

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Gladwell’s book is embarrassing because it is inane and plays on stereotypes.

I’m not sure what the point “Outliers” is supposed to be making. He talks about hockey players, birth years and other random topics. He sucks up to some New York lawyers, including his agent.

I don’t mind pointlessness or shout outs to his buddies. Lot of authors write pointless books and butter-up their friends.

What I mind is his prejudice and hatred against the people of Appalachia.

Gladwell devotes an entire chapter of the book to Harlan, Ky. A place I am pretty familiar with. I’ve been there countless times and my daughters were born in an adjoining county.

Nothing suggests that Gladwell has been near Harlan, but it doesn’t stop him from being an expert anyway.

Although “Outliers” is subtitled, “The Story of Success,” Gladwell thinks the people in Harlan are a bunch of losers. He calls it “a remote and strange place” and tells the story of a 1930s fight between the Turner family and the Howard family. He spends the rest of the chapter promoting a theory that people in Appalachia are more prone to violence than people in the North because of their “Scotch-Irish heritage.”

Source:
Outliers and Hatred Against Hillbillies
richmondregister.com