Read Hattiesburg An American City in Black and White William Sturkey 9780674976351 Books
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A rich, multigenerational saga of race and family in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, that tells the story of how Jim Crow was built, how it changed, and how the most powerful social movement in American history came together to tear it down.
If you really want to understand Jim Crow―what it was and how African Americans rose up to defeat it―you should start by visiting Mobile Street in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the heart of the historic black downtown. There you can see remnants of the shops and churches where, amid the violence and humiliation of segregation, men and women gathered to build a remarkable community. William Sturkey introduces us to both old-timers and newcomers who arrived in search of economic opportunities promised by the railroads, sawmills, and factories of the New South. He also takes us across town and inside the homes of white Hattiesburgers to show how their lives were shaped by the changing fortunes of the Jim Crow South.
Sturkey reveals the stories behind those who struggled to uphold their southern “way of life†and those who fought to tear it down―from William Faulkner’s great-grandfather, a Confederate veteran who was the inspiration for the enigmatic character John Sartoris, to black leader Vernon Dahmer, whose killers were the first white men ever convicted of murdering a civil rights activist in Mississippi. Through it all, Hattiesburg traces the story of the Smith family across multiple generations, from Turner and Mamie Smith, who fled a life of sharecropping to find opportunity in town, to Hammond and Charles Smith, in whose family pharmacy Medgar Evers and his colleagues planned their strategy to give blacks the vote.
Read Hattiesburg An American City in Black and White William Sturkey 9780674976351 Books
"Structural racism’s hold on the efforts of blacks to win opportunities equal to those of the country’s whites have never been better documented than It is today. With transparency comes the evidence that equality for blacks is not waiting just around the corner; it may not come about in this century. For example consider the 2015 study reported on by the Boston Globe in its December 2017 series on racism in Boston. It found that white families in the greater Boston area had a median net worth of $247,000 compared to just $8.00 for African American households. Repeat: JUST $8.00.
.
“Hattiesburg, An American City in Black and White†by William Sturkey, an Assistant Professor of American History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, helps explain the roots of this disparity. He provides chapter and verse history of the role played by Jim Crow – what Adam Gopnik calls “toxic bigotry†in a parallel context -- in creating a two-tiered society in Hattiesburg: a vigilant white supremacist overclass and a subservient black underclass. Jim Crow’s legacy still shadows the city.
As Sturkey’s book demonstrates, from the 1870s on, the city’s hard edged racist regime had significant consequences for the black community, most, but not all of them, bad. Virtually walled off from the white parts of the city, Hattiesburg’s blacks lived in the Mobile Street District of Hattiesburg. This black enclave was self-sufficient, self-governing within its confines, protective and nourishing for its residents. The blacks bonded, looked out for one another and, year in, year out, sought, in vain, a path to equality.
That day has yet to come, but, as Sturkey writes in the concluding chapter of his book, it is a good deal closer – thanks to progress put in motion by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. But the advances have come at a cost. While blacks are now an integral part of the civic and economic life of the greater community, “the extraordinarily resilient black communities where a people lived and grew together within the confines of Jim Crow†are history. The book shows how difficult it is for our country to open up to its minorities without detracting from their survival strengths.
Afterword. This book’s detailed account of the way Jim Crow worked to keep blacks under its thumb should convince all but the most hardened white supremacists that it was evil incarnate. By coincidence, the April 8, issue of The New Yorker, includes an article by Adam Gopnik, “The Takeback†that explains how white resistance unraveled the gains blacks made after the Civil War during Reconstruction and replaced the progress with a long period of oppression. It is must reading for anyone interested in putting Hattiesburg in perspective."
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Hattiesburg An American City in Black and White William Sturkey 9780674976351 Books Reviews :
Hattiesburg An American City in Black and White William Sturkey 9780674976351 Books Reviews
- Structural racism’s hold on the efforts of blacks to win opportunities equal to those of the country’s whites have never been better documented than It is today. With transparency comes the evidence that equality for blacks is not waiting just around the corner; it may not come about in this century. For example consider the 2015 study reported on by the Boston Globe in its December 2017 series on racism in Boston. It found that white families in the greater Boston area had a median net worth of $247,000 compared to just $8.00 for African American households. Repeat JUST $8.00.
.
“Hattiesburg, An American City in Black and White†by William Sturkey, an Assistant Professor of American History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, helps explain the roots of this disparity. He provides chapter and verse history of the role played by Jim Crow – what Adam Gopnik calls “toxic bigotry†in a parallel context -- in creating a two-tiered society in Hattiesburg a vigilant white supremacist overclass and a subservient black underclass. Jim Crow’s legacy still shadows the city.
As Sturkey’s book demonstrates, from the 1870s on, the city’s hard edged racist regime had significant consequences for the black community, most, but not all of them, bad. Virtually walled off from the white parts of the city, Hattiesburg’s blacks lived in the Mobile Street District of Hattiesburg. This black enclave was self-sufficient, self-governing within its confines, protective and nourishing for its residents. The blacks bonded, looked out for one another and, year in, year out, sought, in vain, a path to equality.
That day has yet to come, but, as Sturkey writes in the concluding chapter of his book, it is a good deal closer – thanks to progress put in motion by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. But the advances have come at a cost. While blacks are now an integral part of the civic and economic life of the greater community, “the extraordinarily resilient black communities where a people lived and grew together within the confines of Jim Crow†are history. The book shows how difficult it is for our country to open up to its minorities without detracting from their survival strengths.
Afterword. This book’s detailed account of the way Jim Crow worked to keep blacks under its thumb should convince all but the most hardened white supremacists that it was evil incarnate. By coincidence, the April 8, issue of The New Yorker, includes an article by Adam Gopnik, “The Takeback†that explains how white resistance unraveled the gains blacks made after the Civil War during Reconstruction and replaced the progress with a long period of oppression. It is must reading for anyone interested in putting Hattiesburg in perspective. - I have a strong interest in the history of the post-WWII civil rights movement and have read some great books on the topic (Local People by John Dittmer is a favorite), so I was particularly keen to read this book about my hometown in Mississippi. William Sturkey's book uniquely lays out the development of one city and the way barriers were systematically put in place to maintain a segregated society. The author has done a beautiful job of showing how the strengths of the African-American community’s social institutions and the leadership of key families laid the groundwork for the courageous activism of the early 1960s. I think it was really helpful to see how all that played out from the very beginnings of the town, how the black and white communities developed in parallel within the same space. Well written, impeccably researched, and very informative about Hattiesburg's social and economic history--I highly recommend Hattiesburg An American City in Black and White.
- Cover to cover this is a solid piece of work. It goes in depth enough to vividly put the reader in the scene while not losing sight of the broader national landscape. It’s griping, it’s important and I highly recommend it!
- The alternating perspectives of white and black community members is a perfect technique for explaining the interplay of two diverse groups. The early stories about the Piney Woods are full of courageous visionaries and extremely hard working men and women. One of my favorite chapters talks about Camp Shelby during WW2 which illustrates the importance of military bases to local cities and the fun ways citizens helped soldiers face deployment. This book provides the stories and the data necessary to understand how Jim Crow affected the lives of real people - and, more importantly - how people overcame the barriers to survive and thrive. Loved this book!
