On Being Barefoot in Appalachia

By Lee Skallerup Bessette. It’s the last week of school, and the sky has suddenly opened up during just before the time when students are trying to make their way to class. My students are coming into class barefoot, largely because they were wearing flip-flops or flats that got soaked or, worse, floated away in the heavy streams of water rushing through campus. I think of this incident when I read this recent piece on Appalachian and other poor, white, rural students. Read more...