How Bad Are My Roots?

“I’ve proven that people aren’t trees, so it’s false when they speak of roots.”

Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

As much as I'd like to believe that quote, I just can't.  My life is grossly different then it was when I was growing up - so much so that I sometimes feel schizophrenic - but that fact remains that where I come from will always be a part of me.  I have struggled over the years sorting out my complicated feelings about a region that in many ways represents both the best and worst of humanity.

After visiting one of my old friends who is a teacher in Leslie County yesterday, I started thinking about my roots in terms of poverty and educational attainment.  This morning, I looked at data about the counties in which I have lived in Kentucky.  I was born in Leslie County and lived there until I was 17 and then spent a year or two in Floyd County.  I lived in Rowan County for 6 years while I was earning a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s degree at Morehead State University.  I’ve spent the past decade in Fayette County.

Below is a table of some of the data I reviewed:

	Leslie County	Floyd County	Rowan County	Fayette County
Total Population (2010)	11,310	39,451	23,333	295,803
% white (2010)	98.8%	98.2%	96.1%	75.7%
% high school graduates (2010)	56.8%	68.9%	76.5%	88.3%
% Bachelor’s degree or higher (2010)	8.1%	11.7%	24.7%	39.1%
% lacking basic literacy skills (2003)	18%	15%	13%	7%
Median household income (2010)	$26,857	$27,907	$31,604	$47,469
% below poverty level (2010)	24.6%	28.1%	29.8%	17.4%
# of institutions offering a bachelor’s degree within 100 miles	19	12	22	38

As you can see, each move I have made has taken me to a less white, more educated, and more literate community.

According to the most recent census data, only 56.8% of people over the age of 25 in my home county (Leslie) graduated high school, and only 8.1% have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.  Nearly 1 in 5 Leslie Countians lack basic literacy skills.  But what does this really say about where I came from?  I decided to look at historical data on attainment of Bachelor’s degrees to get a fuller understanding.  That data is presented in the table below:

Unfortunately, the historical data isn’t any better. 

But are things really that bad in my home county?  Not necessarily.

As you can see in the table above, Leslie County has seen a pretty dramatic increase in the percentage of its population over the age of 25 with a Bachelor’s degree since 1960, an increase that has far outpaced other areas in Kentucky, the state as a whole, and even the nation.  Today, there are about 9 times as many people in Leslie County with a Bachelor’s degree than there was 50 years ago. 

Now that's something to be proud of.

If you'd like to read a more comprehensive analysis of Appalachian poverty, you can read the paper I'm posting separately that I wrote over a decade ago while I was working on my MA in Sociology.  It's a long academic paper, so feel free to give it a shot if you're having trouble sleeping.