Southern Guilt and Repentance: Deconstructing Identities of Place in the Cracker State

• In Event: 66.062 - The Place of Race in the Cracker State: Regional Identities and Whiteness Pedagogies in Context

Abstract

Objectives
After having our institution dubbed “Cracker State” in the media, we sought to confront White supremacy in our Southern college of education. Responding to Jupp, Berry, and Lensmire’s (2016) “demographic imperative”, we reconceptualize White fragility with respect to our Southern students who are often unwilling to engage in this excavation. The nostalgia of the South is contrasted by brutal images of slavery, racism, and fear of the Other. This dualism has infected Southern identity, positioning White Southerners between defiant denial and haunting guilt (Cash, 1941; Pinar & Kincheloe, 1991). The study explores Place and the sociohistorical shifts shaping our pre-service educators’ perspectives of race/racism.

Theoretical framework
We combine second wave Whiteness studies (Jupp, et. al, 2016) and Cash’s (1941) Southern epistemology to understand our pre-service educators’ and their White fragility (DiAngelo, 2011). Place plays a powerful role in shaping identity and culture (Casemore, 2008; Pinar & Kincheloe, 1991; Pinar, Kincheloe, & Slattery, 1994; Reynolds, 2013; Whitlock, 2007). Our research is challenging in the rural South where our student body is impacted by cultural conservatism. This work recognizes White identity as complex and intersectional, relating to various regional, political, economic, and sociocultural factors influencing how Whiteness is perceived and navigated (Kincheloe, 1999; Lensmire & Snaza, 2010; McLaren, 1998).

Methodology
This two-year case study includes data from seven required education courses. Participants included 154 mostly White and female students. Utilizing Hytten and Warren (2003) as our model for coding, we developed themes based on Cash’s (1941) Southern epistemology. While our larger study includes four themes, this presentation explores missionary zeal as a means to bury White guilt.

Data sources
Analysis stemmed from two years of empirical data from participant observation, fieldnotes from classroom discussions, and students’ weekly reflections. Student reflections required them to include personal and academic viewpoints.

Results
Consistent with Cash (1941) and Pinar and Kincheloe (1991), analysis reveals that Southern Identity and its unique place-based approach to White supremacy informed our students in the following ways:
1. Many Southerners are guided by a sense of responsibility that causes an immense sense of guilt driving them toward extreme denials of or struggles for atonement.
2. Many southerners seek the sanctity of the church to reposition themselves as humble and pious people who are neither responsible for nor representative of the anguish caused by their ancestors.

Scholarly significance
We recognize that geographical location and traditional faith impact the socialization and conscientization of our students. Because it is our responsibility to reverse current trends, we interrogate our students’ relationship with Southern place and engage in a difficult excavation of the past and present in order to reconceptualize White fragility, advance second wave Whiteness studies, and begin a conversation regarding the influence of Place on pedagogy. We do this while acknowledging that we can appreciate the South and simultaneously critique it (Casemore, 2008; Whitlock, 2007).

Authors

• Westry A. Whitaker, The University of North Georgia

• Sheri Carmel Hardee, University of North Georgia