The battle of Blair mountain was an uprising of 10k+ coal miners for better working conditions in 1921. The result was the national guard coming in to kill a bunch of Americans.

(Side note: they wore red bandanas around their neck. Although the term redneck was used prior to this battle, some claim the red bandana as an alternate history for the word. redneck origin/definition )

  • HelluvaKick
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    49
    ·
    2 days ago

    We had actual armies of coal workers fighting for their rights. The shit going on in West Virginia at the time was insane. The Esau Scripts they would use to rope miners’ wives and daughters into bureaucratized prostitution was one of the most downright evil and heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard of

    • Kirp123
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      2 days ago

      Tragic how Americans forgot all about it in a couple of decades. Those people fought for their rights and they sent the army to rein them in.

      • ignirtoq@feddit.online
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        2 days ago

        It’s a lot harder to perpetuate historical knowledge when you don’t get support from the educational system. The government sets educational standards and subject matter, so it’s not surprising they de-emphasize the record of their own actions against the public they are teaching.

        Universities are more independent (but definitely not completely, and they come with their own set of problems), so students there tend to be more exposed to topics like this. But then you get political movements villianizing universities.

        • Serinus
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          1 day ago

          It’s why they’re pushing so hard for schools and specifically teachers to be “apolitical”. Previously universities were exempt because we needed the people running things to have a reasonable grasp of reality.

          But now they don’t like how to “college educated” people keep voting against them.

        • teft@piefed.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 day ago

          Wonder why the wrestling bitch et al are dismantling the department of education. /s

        • Eat_Your_Paisley
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          2 days ago

          They sent violent goobers too, the Pinkerton’s have a long history of strike breaking