"You know you're from Kentucky if your house is movable and your three cars aren't" This is a line my younger brother recited to me when I returned to my house from college in my Kentucky Yankee home for Thanksgiving break. He went on to ask, “If a Kentucky couple divorces, are they still brother and sister?” The lists of redneck jokes about Kentucky stereotypes are endless. Many people get a good laugh from the jokes, but don't realize that they are conveying a crude message about all the people of Kentucky. More than any other state, Kentucky is labeled and illustrated as redneck and poor. Much of this may come from many small towns in Kentucky and the Appalachian area. However, Appalachia has been misunderstood and misrepresented: “Appalachia has long been characterized as a region of feuding, moonshine stills, mining wars, environmental destruction, unemployment, and desperation” (Billings cover). Although Appalachia tends to be a very poor region, it is very rich in family values ​​and respect for life. It was a few days before I left for school and my best friend, Kate, was throwing a going away party for our group of friends. I was so excited for this party since it would be the last time our group would be together for a while. It was time for all of us to move forward and embark on a future that held so much for all of us, and to say goodbye to the people and memories that had shaped us. Kate's family had rented a ballroom at a local country club. , and we intended to dance all night. As I approached the scene, disco lights streamed through the large windows and ran across the lawn. Music enveloped the parking lot as my adrenaline began to surge. I entered, greeting my friend... middle of paper... I have difficulty overcoming these labels that oppress them and that their jokes only increase the pain. "Stereotypes are attacks on the human spirit. They find their mark and nothing good comes of it" (Billings 160). Everyone I've met here, regardless of where they're from, is exactly the same as I've ever met. They are just trying to make it and doing their best to follow their hearts and dreams. Works Cited Billings, Norman, Ledford. Confronting Appalachian Stereotypes: Discourses from an American Region. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1990.Beaver, Patricia. Rural community in the southern Appalachians. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1981.Murray, Kenneth. Down to earth people of Appalachia. Boone: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1974. Norman, Gurney. Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories. Frankfurt: Gnomon Press, 1977.