Karri Peifer wrote “the quiet part out loud” about what Charlottesville and Urban Crescent politicos and elites think about rural Virginia in her April 1 piece appearing in Axios Richmond. (See the response by Cardinal’s executive editor, Dwayne Yancey.)
Ms. Peifer wrote that Virginia is at least six states: “… Richmond, NoVa, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, Roanoke and whatever the hell is west of Roanoke.”
Notice that a certain part of Virginia was not even considered part of Virginia by Ms. Peifer: The Shenandoah Valley. While the Richmond, Charlottesville and Alexandria cognoscenti roll their eyes at Southwest Virginia as an exotic enclave of hillbillies, they don’t even think the Valley is even worth a second of their consideration.
First of all, “whatever the hell is west of Roanoke” is reminiscent of the use of the term, “sh#t h!le countries” uttered by former President Trump. It is as if Ms. Peifer views the people, customs, and traditions of Southwest Virginia as so beneath and inferior to her own experience that they may be summed up by one profane phrase. None of these people or their traditions are worth individual consideration to her and her fellow elites. Rather, they can all be clumped together as a people and their place which should be avoided at all times.
Hand-in-hand with the collective insult of Southwest Virginia is the cultural and geographic erasure of the Shenandoah Valley. While the unwarranted insult of some of rural Virginia is disgusting, Peifer simply extracts and disposes of the Valley by placing an invisibility cloak upon it.
While I could write pages about the beautiful landscapes or the compassionate, thoughtful, intelligent, and kind people located up and down the Valley, I know that the Tesla drivers in Cville and the bow-tied brigade in RVA would smirk as their forbears have always done when the topic of “the other side of the Mountain” comes up.
Instead, I’ll just point out a few facts that might translate into the achievement culture patois of the flatlanders. For the government types, it might come as some surprise that the city manager form of government originated in Staunton, Virginia, in 1908. As we’re in the midst of March Madness, it’s interesting to note that the only Virginia university to make it into the second round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament this year was James Madison University, located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. For those interested in commercial affairs, according to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, just three Valley counties — Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta — produced nearly one-third of the market value of agricultural products sold by Virginia farms. But the Valley isn’t just farms. There are numerous technology and manufacturing facilities located up and down the area including the global headquarters of a Merck manufacturing facility as well as the headquarters of Cadence Inc., a medical equipment manufacturer.
I grew up in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. When I was a child, the town of Gretna’s motto used to be, “Ain’t No Big Thing, But We’re Growing.” The Valley may not be a “big thing” to Ms. Peifer and others; but its population is growing, and it certainly isn’t invisible to those willing to look.