The Mind of the South

In reality the hated the South a good deal less than they said and thought. Rather, so far as their hatred was not mere vain profession designed to invite attention to their own superior perception, they hated it with the exasperated hate of a lover who cannot persuade the object of his affections to his desire. Or, perhaps more accurately, as Narcissus, growing at length analytical, might have suddenly begun to hate his image reflected in the pool (377).

Faulkner understood the forces shaping the South as does Cash, and both men see their contemporary South as having been shaped by the past to a great degree, so much so that the heritage of slavery and the Civil War was something the

. . .
ship vacuum, as Goldfield shows. The movement proper started first around the busing issue in Montgomery, Alabama, but it was also the culmination of decades of frustration nearly a century after the slave era and after a long history of continuing discrimination and ill-treatment. The successes of the movement were uneven. Social class divisions within the black community widened as the movement progressed and achieved some of its goals. There was a growing distinction apparent between the middle- and upper-class population that was benefiting from an improved business and employment situation and from greater educational opportunities on the one hand, and the poorer classes in the ghettoes of the city and in rural regions on the other. The latter group consisted of people who did not benefit directly from the changes taking place and who were frustrated that the benefits enjoyed by some were not making any changes in their lives. There were social divisions in the white community as well, with white society showing different responses to the racial dissension and agitation in the black community. Some banking interests took an active part in trying to develop "black capitalism." The system as a whole tried to contain the
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cooper Terrill, War South, Racism Southern, South Goldfield, John Dewey, Montgomery Alabama, Depression Roosevelt, Republican Party, President Roosevelt, Rights Movement, civil rights, civil rights movement, rights movement, civil war, cooper terrill, black community, federal government, white community, nineteenth century, north south, american history, black white southern, brown board education, civil war south,
Approximate Word count = 4184
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

More Essays on The Mind of the South