This blog will serve as a medium for communication and content for History 332 - The American South in the Twentieth Century - Taught at the University of Mississippi, Spring Semester 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Mind of the South (really)
Okay, I mean it this time! Please post your discussion questions below. You might consider posing your question in the context of our proposed essays.
In Chapter six, "The Mind of the South", Cobb discusses W.J. Cash's book, also called "The Mind of the South." Cash's interpretation of the New South (industrial culture) is that of resistance. Although, changing times brought Northern influences to Southern traditions, the "mind" of the old south was still strong. Besides strong-rooted traditions, why was the south so resistant to change?
On pg. 176 Cobb says, "Maintaining racial supremacy was clearly the paramount concern of southern whites, but the determination to resist 'northern' ideas and practices (if not northern money) drew on a vision of the North as the imperialistic agent of the socially and morally corrosvie forces of modernity." Focusing on the last 5 words of that quote, is it safe to say that even if beneficial to them, white southerners refuse to accept society's growth and adaption to a more "modern mind"? Is conformity with a growing, maturing Northern world/society a traitorous offense in the minds of white southerners?
Carson on page 166 says, “a vengeance far more terrible and relentless than that inflicted upon any other conquered nation in modern times”. He is referring of course to the whites in the South post Civil War. In terms of social status, finances, and individual identity can we agree with Carson?
Cobb discusses Cash's view on the New South by stating that a Proto-Dorian convention allows for whites never to fall to the bottom of the South's social pyramid. What exactly was this Proto-Dorian convention that existed in the South and how did it affect the lives of both white and black southerners? Did it allow for certain groups, particulary blacks, to be mobile in the South's class structure?
I find it ironic that two of the most well known authors of the bad side of the south committed suicide either before their book came out, or shortly after. Discuss why Clarence Carson and W.J. Cash killed themselves around the publishing of their respective book.s
Cobb's chapter 6 talks about the love-hate relationship that many southern writers felt toward the South. What were some of the issues that caused their internal conflictions? In what other sources can we see this contradictory relationship?
In Cobb chapter 6, black men and their assumed desire for white women was mentioned. It stated that the real motive for white aggression was the perception that a black man was making some type of gain at the expense of whites. How does this help depict whites reactions to the movement or advancement of blacks in the South and how does the opinion of many authors mentioned in this chapter also reflects these views?
Why did some of the younger generation seem to regard nonviolence not as a sacred principle like many, but as a tactical position of uncertain promise, even after observing such influencial figures as Williams and King symbolizing nonviolence as a way of life?
Posts
In Chapter six, "The Mind of the South", Cobb discusses W.J. Cash's book, also called "The Mind of the South." Cash's interpretation of the New South (industrial culture) is that of resistance. Although, changing times brought Northern influences to Southern traditions, the "mind" of the old south was still strong. Besides strong-rooted traditions, why was the south so resistant to change?
ReplyDeleteOn pg. 176 Cobb says, "Maintaining racial supremacy was clearly the paramount concern of southern whites, but the determination to resist 'northern' ideas and practices (if not northern money) drew on a vision of the North as the imperialistic agent of the socially and morally corrosvie forces of modernity." Focusing on the last 5 words of that quote, is it safe to say that even if beneficial to them, white southerners refuse to accept society's growth and adaption to a more "modern mind"? Is conformity with a growing, maturing Northern world/society a traitorous offense in the minds of white southerners?
ReplyDeleteCarson on page 166 says, “a vengeance far more terrible and relentless than that inflicted upon any other conquered nation in modern times”. He is referring of course to the whites in the South post Civil War. In terms of social status, finances, and individual identity can we agree with Carson?
ReplyDeleteCobb discusses Cash's view on the New South by stating that a Proto-Dorian convention allows for whites never to fall to the bottom of the South's social pyramid. What exactly was this Proto-Dorian convention that existed in the South and how did it affect the lives of both white and black southerners? Did it allow for certain groups, particulary blacks, to be mobile in the South's class structure?
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic that two of the most well known authors of the bad side of the south committed suicide either before their book came out, or shortly after. Discuss why Clarence Carson and W.J. Cash killed themselves around the publishing of their respective book.s
ReplyDeleteCobb's chapter 6 talks about the love-hate relationship that many southern writers felt toward the South. What were some of the issues that caused their internal conflictions? In what other sources can we see this contradictory relationship?
ReplyDeleteIn Cobb chapter 6, black men and their assumed desire for white women was mentioned. It stated that the real motive for white aggression was the perception that a black man was making some type of gain at the expense of whites. How does this help depict whites reactions to the movement or advancement of blacks in the South and how does the opinion of many authors mentioned in this chapter also reflects these views?
ReplyDeleteWhy did some of the younger generation seem to regard nonviolence not as a sacred principle like many, but as a tactical position of uncertain promise, even after observing such influencial figures as Williams and King symbolizing nonviolence as a way of life?
ReplyDelete