The hillbilly stereotype strikes again

Of course, what does one expect from Hollywood? The local newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, perpetuates this stereotype of the backward, uneducated, xenophobic bigot who lives in the hills with his wife and his shotgun

THE movie, “The Express,” has WVU fans all riled up. It tells the sad story of Ernie Davis, the first black Heisman winner, who died of leukemia before he could make it to the NFL.

Great story - “Brian’s Song” for the 21st century.

Unfortunately, that is not the story that filmmakers apparently wanted to sell.

WVU fans are upset with a scene that depicts Davis fighting racism at a game in Morgantown in 1959.

It never happened.

There was no game in Morgantown between his team, Syracuse, and WVU that year. They played in New York. The next year, they played in Morgantown.

And from all accounts, WVU fans treated Davis in the 1960 game as well as they would treat any other star of an opposing team.

Syracuse’s 1960 quarterback, Dick Easterly, told the Daily Mail, “I apologize to the people of West Virginia, because it never happened.”

But hey, we’re West Virginians. We all have “Kick me” signs on our backs.