We asked locals what people often get wrong about the Black Country
There are many misconceptions about our lovely Black Country, and these locals said they’re ‘absolutely not true’.
When the uninformed hear the words ‘Black Country’, they often think about crime, gangsters, strong accents and even Peaky Blinders (even though they’re from Birmingham).
They’re harmful misconceptions that only work to damage our lovely and welcoming area in the eyes of the world.
What many believe is just stabbings and shootings is actually an area filled with smiling faces, community spirit, and a deep-rooted culture.
So, to help identify and dispel a few of these horrible misconceptions, we asked our lovely locals about what they believe people often get wrong about the Black Country, and why those opinions are wrong.
Of all the people we asked, the most common answers unsurprisingly were the crime rate, and that our strong accent; however, all those we asked agreed on one thing, that we are much more than that.
Courtney, aged 23, from Wolverhampton, said: “I don’t think people realise that we aren’t all gangsters.
“We’re not in big gangs or groups; we aren’t all out to hurt someone. There are lots of kind people out here, and we are always happy to help where we are needed.”
James, aged 78, from Penn, said that accents were the biggest misconception, saying that many see it as ‘not proper English’.
He said: “Our accents. People don’t like our accent; they look down on it. They don’t think it’s proper English.
“People tend to think we are a bit illiterate, but it’s not true in the slightest.”
Derrick Cave, aged 68, from Bushbury, went a step further and said that the most common misconception was that ‘we are all layabouts’.
He said: “Everyone thinks we are layabouts, that we speak like idiots.
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