Errand into wilderness. Solidified South. Clearing.
Notes:
Includes index.
Contents:
Conclusion. III. Origin Stories. An errand into wilderness : Appalachia ; Mother country : Virginia ; Animated roulette : Louisville ; Mary's land : Annapolis and the caves ; Ironic capital : Washington, DC -- II. The Solidified South. The clearing : upper Alabama ; Tobacco Road in the Bible Belt : North Carolina ; King of the South : Atlanta ; More than a memorial : Birmingham ; Pearls before swine : Princeton to Nashville ; When Beale Street talks : Memphis ; Soul of the South : the Black Belt -- III. Water People. Home of the flying Africans : the Low Country ; Pistoles and flamboyán : Florida ; Immobile women : Mobile ; Magnolia graves and Easter lilies: New Orleans ; Paraíso : the Bahamas and Havana -- Conclusion.
Summary:
"An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South--and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America"--Provided by publisher. "We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole. This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life. Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line"--Publisher's description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.