Southern Studies Final

Identify two examples of national effort to mourn Frederick Douglass

• Obituaries appeared in newspapers across the country

• A Rochester memorial association formed and planned a monument construction of him.

How was the memorialization of Douglass also a contest over the memory of abolition and racial uplift?

It became a contest over who controlled the narrative of slavery. Douglass was mixed, so he was used to represent both races. It was almost unheard of to have such a grand memorial for a person of color, and his funeral gave racist whites a chance to voice their version of the Civil War.

Compare and contrast the perceptions of Douglass as the “Greatest Black Man” and a “Great White Man” following his death

• Douglass was mixed, so people tried to use his race to support their national grief, even in condescending ways

• Some said he was given so much attention and deserved hoor because he had a bit of white in him

• Others said it was despite his race

• Became a fight for an African American identity

• Great White Man argument praised the part of him that was white and downplayed his blackness

• White supremacists used this to downplay his achievement as a black man

Identify two examples of ways in which Guy Carawan helped Negro spirituals become part of the Civil Rights Movement

• He worked at Highlander and immersed himself in folk music, then was involved with student demonstrations

• He held workshops to train song leaders, which brought together White and Black folk to bond over music

What debates about music were addressed at the Atlanta “Sing for Freedom” event in May 1964?

They debated the relevance of traditional slave songs

• Some people believed they were outdated

• Others thought it was crucial

• Some people also thought the folk music was too polite and not authentic

Identify two spirituals that were included in Sing Out! and Broadside! in 1964.

• Drinkin of the Wine

• Go Tell it on the Mountain

How did the gay bar scene grow in Mobile, Alabama in the 1970s and 1980s?

• The oldest surviving gay Mardi Gras, the Order of Osiris, was founded in 1981

• The AIDS epidemic was prevalent during this time and buried a lot of history

• The Princess House was the first queer bar in Mobile, opened in 1935

  • Held elaborate drag shows

• All races were welcome

  • Interracial couples common

• First dedicated gay bars known as “The Fruit Loop”

In what ways did the Order of Osiris grown and develop from 1980s to 2000s?

• Moved to larger public spaces

  • Inaugural ball was held at Alabama National Guard’s Fort Whiting Armory, but they hid the fact that they were gay to secure the event

  • In 1987, their sixth year, they moved to Municipal Expo Hall and were accepted into the Mardi Gras celebrations

  • Now, around 1600 people attend each year

• Incorporated straight people

• Media coverage increased

What are some characteristics of the “southern beauty” trope?

• Emphasized traditional values for women

  • poise

  • good manners

  • submissiveness

  • adherence to social norms

Identify and describe two types of rituals that perpetuated the “lady ideal.”

• Debutante balls - girls were formally introduced into society

• Sorority rush - girls must be well-mannered, poised, and reinforced racism in early stages, as all were white. They had to adhere to the rules and norms of feminine sororities.

How did tourism reinforce a romanticized Old South?

• Showed off antebellum plantations, genteel Southern hospitality

• Reinforced traditions of behavior and socialization that promoted racism and white supremacy

In what ways were Old South symbols present on cllege campuses in the 1940s and 1950s?

• Greek life formals that focused on antebellum themes

• Confederate themed organizations

• Use of confederate flags in decorations

Identify and describe three roles women held in early SEC football

• Wrote many of the fight songs still used today, such as Mrs. Ford Munnerlyn’s “The Twelfth Man”

• Cheerleaders, on the sidelines of big games

• A&M Mothers Clubs that held luncheons and other organizations related to the games

• Performed fight songs at parades

Identify two reasons behind the absence of major league membership for a long time

• Heat and humidity of the South

• Too far removed from Northern teams

Through which league was organized, professional baseball established in the South?

The Southern League

Identify two ways in which baseball became significant in southern culture in the twentieth century

• Supported industrial work, as most teams were backed by mills and a winning team meant a stable workforce

• The commissioner of minor league baseball declared that Black people could not be refused the right to play baseball, and it became a desegregated sport, where fans cheered for the team on the radio, regardless of who was on it

Which baseball team became known as “America’s Team?”

Atlanta Braves

What factors have contributed to the South becoming the nation’s new “Immigrant Belt?”

• Southern food was a symbol of “good life” and attracted immigrants

• Food merges diverse cultures and brings representation of all cultures together

  • The South adopts new food and who creates them

• Economic demand for cheap labor

• The South often applied to people through their experiences

• Asian Americans increased by 69% in the South and Latinos tripled in the 21st century

• Low-cost housing

How has modernization affected regional identification in the South?

• Has made the South blend in more with the rest of the country

  • Lost its distinctiveness

• Fast food restaurants have spread and replaced local farm businesses

• The concept of the South has expanded to include diverse cultures and identities; no Southerner is like another

• South has also united to maintain its culture despite the outside world changing rapidly

How has the public rhetoric surrounding Latino immigrants in the South changed since their arrival in the 1970s?

• It was initially very welcoming due to the cheap labor and generosity they offered.

• They also upheld the religious ideals of the South

  • Governor Mike Huckabee said immigrants were a “second chance for the region to act like loving Christian people” and make amends for their past treatment of other races

• Now, Latinos are perceived as a threat to American resources, such as schools and healthcare

• The South feels like they’ve lost its culture and authenticity because it has been changed so much by immigrants

• Donald Trump encourages hatred

What are some examples of television programs from the 1990s that portray diverse views of the South and race?

• Designing Women - portrayed women as sassy with strong accents

• Evening shade

• The Dukes of Hazzard - main character fought for truth, justice, and wild driving

• In the Heat of the Night - focused on a Black detective in Mississippi who faced police brutality, political corruption, and racism. The film portrayed African American characters and their lives as integral to the community.

What are some key differences between the commemoration of the Confederacy and the commemoration of the civil rights movement in the contemporary South?

• The Confederacy is often a point of contention and is viewed through cultural wars

  • Often seen as sanitized and fictional, as the people who discuss it are often the biggest supporters of that way of life.

  • Neglects the hardships faced by Black people.

• Civil Rights is portrayed as upbeat and a redemption

  • More people support it now, and it is seen as an educational tool

• Confederacy monuments are seen as supporting evil, while Civil Rights monuments are symbols of hope.

How do contemporary expression of Southern culture, such as music and literature, reflect the region’s increasing multiculturalism?

• Traditional genres have become diversified to include many ethnic groups of creators that are highly respected.

• Hip-hop combines electronic music with Southern identity representation.

• Literature has shifted from mansions to trailer parks and supports LGBTQ authors

• Cuban in Mayberry is a book that places the Cuban experience of being exiled into a Southern small town

Identify two issues that the Southern “pastoral mode” obscures.

• Idealizes the countryside and veils rural work

• Obscures environmental degradation in the countryside

How has Southern Studies begun to further analyze human interaction with nonhuman nature?

• allows people to explore literature environmental history and current fights for justice

• There have been two major books

  • Jack Temple Kirby’s Mockingbird Song: Ecological Landscapes of the South (2006)

  • Christopher Rieger’s Clear-Cutting Eden: Ecology and the Pastoral in Southern Literature (2009)

  • Both view 1920s-1940s South as a period of ecological growth

What is the ecopastoral?

Many writers of the Southern renaissance rejected traditional pastoral for overromanticizing the past and adopted an ecological based pastoral that places nature at the center of attention

Identify two well-known “alternative” bands that originated in Athens, GA

• The B-52s

• REM

How has Athens, GA been shaped by DIY culture to become “an unlikely bohemia?”

• Grassroots initiative

• Independent music venues

• Artists collectives

• Creative atmosphere that allowed people to be self-reliant and artistic

What did many Americans fear about “civilization” in the 1920s and 30s?

• afraid that rapid changes of modernization were going to threaten traditional ways of the South and of life

• didn’t want industrialization destroying rural areas

How did the Agrarians reckon with the Old South, Lost Cause, and New South in their work?

• They advocated for a return to agrarian values and rural life, but recognized the flaws of the Pre-Civil War era and need for economic progress

• Also wanted to maintain southern culture through modern changes

What were some differences between the Agrarians’ concept, “the Southern way of Life,” and the so-called “American way?”

• Southern way of life emphasized Agrarian values, community ties, and hierarchal social structure

• “American way” is more individualistic, industrialized, and egalitarian

• Southern way prioritized traditional stability

• American way emphasizes progress and mobility

How did the Agrarians engage with race, or not, in I’ll Take My Stand?

They didn’t; they focused on preserving Southern Agrarian culture and values

In what ways did the Confederate tradition evolve after Reconstruction?

• more widespread involvement from the white community

• Ladies’ memorial associations continued to raise funds and built monuments that commemorated soldiers

• Large procession in Augusta were military bands, veterans, the mayor, and former officers marched to the place the cornerstone was going to be laid

How did the Lost Cause narrative make its way into monument speeches?

• speeches framed Confederate defeat as holy and noble cause defended by heroes

• Became ways to express political vindication and promote white supremacy

Space

site of meaning for people

• memory

• social status

• more abstract concept

Place

general characteristics that make a specific location a cohesive unit

When was the shift in Southern studies from material, geographic place to construct?

1970s

Challenge myth of bucolic agrarian South

look at biodiversity of South

Antipastoral

portrays the economic and physical struggle of rural inhabitants

Pastoral

idealizes rural life, often depicts serene landscapes, shepherds, and beauty of nature