The Centrality of the U.S. South in the Shaping of Black Life and Identity

• In Event: A “Sankofa” Dialogue: Southeastern Scholars Collaborate on Research Focused on African American Education in the U.S. South

Abstract

The forced migration of Africans during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade repopulated the Americas, and became the genesis of several migratory periods during Black peoples’ experiences in the United States. Thousands of Mandinkas, Ibo, Dahomeans, and Ashantis were violently uprooted, and endured the terror of being herded through the slave ports of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana. Ultimately, the U.S. South is where the majority of enslaved Africans were forced to live out their lives and come to terms with their indelible status in a new and strange land. With the passing of each generation, the memories of their homelands eventually faded and subsequent generations only knew America, namely the South, as their home.

During the years 1619-1920, approximately 90% of Black people resided in what is now considered the U.S. South (Gibson & Jung, 2002; Trotter, 1991). In the early-to-mid-20th century, Blacks left the South en masse [known as the Great Black Migration] searching for greater political, social, and economic “promiselands” of the North and Midwest (Davis & Donaldson, 1975; Farley & Allen, 1987). This shift was driven by several factors—namely Black people’s perception that other regions offered greater opportunity and the desire to escape violence perpetrated by Whites that sometimes resulted in the banishment of entire Black communities, as late as the early 20th century (Williams, 2007). Although Black people left the South in unprecedented numbers during the Great Black Migration, more than 50% remained, although many fled rural areas for urban dwellings (Lewis, 1991; Trotter, 1991).

This paper highlights the centrality of the U.S. South as an important region (historically, socially, politically and culturally) in shaping, and being shaped by Black people’s experiences. Building upon Morris & Monroe’s (2009) scholarship, I argue the significance of re-centering and grounding research studies that investigate contemporary African American culture, family, community-life, health, religion, and education, within a deeper understanding of the Southern African American experience. For instance, Black people’s spoken soul gave the South its distinctive language pattern (R. J. Rickford & J. R. Rickford, 2000). Equally important, had it not been for Black people’s deep belief that education was their passport to freedom, mass public tax-supported schooling would not have come to the South until decades later (Anderson, 1988). Black people’s indelible impact on the United States in general and the U.S. South in particular, has been far reaching. As Black people migrated to other regions of the United States, they took their culture along. Thus, the migration of Black people changed America and colored its complexion beyond the U.S. South.

Author

• Jerome E. Morris, University of Georgia