Hillbilly Bias

* Re “Bias Blights Life Outside Appalachia,” March 29:

What’s all the fuss about “hillbilly” bias? I am proud to be a full-fledged West Virginia hillbilly whose dad was raised up “Catfish Holler,” whose 95-year-old grandmother just got running water, and whose grandfather was once a coal miner.

Did I experience discrimination when I left the Appalachians to work a summer job in Columbus, Ohio, or when I graduated from college and journeyed to Los Angeles? No. But I also came from a family that valued a good education and high achievement.

SUSAN CARRIER

San Gabriel