Reflections on my trip through the Deep South...
All these travel blogs entries were made during and after my month long road trip through many of the states of the Deep South. I was able to travel in my trusty Honda Civic through South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee (according to the internets, Arkansas isn't part of the "Deep South", but frankly, for reasons of economy and culture...it could be). I'm not crazy enough to believe everyone that visits will read ALL these posts...I mostly wanted to do this for my memories, but I do hope you find some time to scan a few of the states or cities or towns that have maybe held some interest for you, or browse some of my photo albums of my visits. This country has tremendous beauty, but also shows incredible pain, which is why I wanted to take this trip. I hope I captured that all in the albums of the places I've visited. Read on for my reflections...
Cover photo: I took this in front of the iconic Little Rock High School and believe it pretty much sums up America (from a history teacher's viewpoint). Here you have something gorgeous (Little Rock High School), and in the beginning, is made only for white people to access and enjoy. This thing helps only white people get ahead in our country's story and stands as a constant reminder to everyone else of what they can't quite participate in or benefit from. But then due to inevitable progress of time and the bravery of a small courageous few, this thing becomes a mirror, showing us that our country did not actually live up to its bragged about ideals.
But here the kids are today, Americans of all colors, sex, and backgrounds. They're here. Americans are here in front of all sorts of monuments and museums and milestones and stories. They're willing to learn, to reflect and keep improving our country for the good of ALL Americans. Guided of course by an educator of some sort (a book, a documentary, a teacher, a genuine politician, or hey, even a park service ranger!)
Most of the Americans (the kids in the photo if you haven't got the metaphor yet) are happy to be here at this place of progress. Happy to be here to learn about the past. Some seem really interested in the story, some seem like they were dragged to this location to learn and just aren't yet sure why they're here, some seem not as "woke" as others (literally), but they are all here. A couple even seem suspicious. And at least one seems very angry at having to be here to learn this history. (I'm sure he's a sweet kid, but really, I get these white kids and parents, angry they have to learn about the uncomfortable past). What's important on this day is that they are all HERE, and are willing to learn about this "moment" from all of our pasts...and for this time...we have hope that they will do better at moving towards America's ideals, rather than the ones before them that didn't want to see progress as inevitable. And we hope these kids....and these Americans...will do better THIS time.
If you want to skip all my blog posts and just see only the photos albums from the trip, here's the link to the full collection of albums.
Upon reflection of my Deep South travels, it fulfilled nearly all my goals, the biggest of which was to visit multiple locations where major milestones in our history of racial injustice took place. In 2018, the much anticipated Legacy Museum and lynching memorial opened in Montgomery, so that was a huge stop for me. The bulk of my 12 years teaching social studies has focused on US History post 1877 (that's the end of Reconstruction of the South if you aren't sure why the specific date). I love teaching up to events in 2008, which includes arguably, the most important bit of forward progress decades in our country. Lots of long awaited changes for so many groups that had been left out of America's original story of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." occurred, during the Progressive Era, The Twenties, and of course, the 1950's and 1960's. When I teach history, my focus and reason for educating, has always been what one quote I read in a museum says..."for those abandoned by the rule of law...we will remember." As a teacher of other subjects like Civics, Law and Justice and Government and Politics as well, that always hits home. As Justice Thurgood Marshall said, when the founding fathers talked about life, liberty and all that, "they did not have the majority of Americans in mind."
The biggest realization I learned over this last month is that America as a whole really doesn't get to see the full impact of race history in this country. I already sort of believed this anyway based on my experiences, but this trip REALLY hammered this home. How past (and current) racial injustice is woven into the political, economic, religious and social fabric of this country is still apparent. There was a moment when I was with my boyfriend in Birmingham, and we had been taking in the scope of the legacies of race oppression for days from multiple museums and civil rights sites in Alabama and how we saw it manifest in parts of the state all around us...and we thought, "how can any of this be fixed if people don't truly understand how all this happened?" It's a lot to think about fixing when most people (intentionally or not) don't even understand the basics of how government works. Or know more about our history of systemic racism beyond "there were enslaved people, now there aren't."
The number one most satisfying part of this trip was the visit the Legacy Museum and lynching memorial in Montgomery, Alabama with my boyfriend. I wish I could take students, family and friends on this leg of the trip. You can read more in that blog, but of all the locations I saw, this was one that I hope every single American can experience at some point. And nearly everyone that visits has a similar reaction. You can't move most directions in Alabama without tripping on a civil rights milestone, or some location where something awful happened. I know a few people told me "that's too depressing" when I told them of all the places I wanted to visit. I don't see it that way. It's a privilege to be able to chose to ignore the ugly parts of our history, and not everyone has that privilege. We all owe it to the oppressed to learn their history.
America isn't all a downer. There's so much positivity in the progress you can find out there as well and I saw so much of this in my travels. We saw parts of towns devastated economically from decades of racist political policies, but we also saw huge revivals of culture that were so hopeful. The economic divide, especially, in the Deep South (and Arkansas!) is stark, often shocking, but overall, there's tremendous progress when you compare it with the generations of oppression on display in museums in Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
The second best part of my travels (the nature part), I also discovered more extensively, this country has even more amazing geography and nature than I've seen to date. I was so happy to experience some of this with old Texas friends, and my advice for anyone wanting to see the beauty of the Ozarks (geography truly unlike anything you can see in most mountain ranges) or Eastern Tennessee (over 500 waterfalls!?) is to get 4 wheel drive or an RV...and DRIVE IT! The best parts of this country really can't be seen from a major city hotel or home basing it in one town. You need to camp, to move to experience the sights. And man, this country's MUSIC history! It's inescapable, especially down South. I came for Elvis, I stayed for the gospel and blues, let me tell ya! Take advantage of the music museums in Nashville and Memphis or anywhere you can find one. It ain't all just country and swing!
I hope you enjoy reading everything in as many blogs as you are willing, and enjoy some of what I saw through my photo albums, and I hope YOU can find your part of the United States you really want to visit and get outside (and inside)!
Cover photo: I took this in front of the iconic Little Rock High School and believe it pretty much sums up America (from a history teacher's viewpoint). Here you have something gorgeous (Little Rock High School), and in the beginning, is made only for white people to access and enjoy. This thing helps only white people get ahead in our country's story and stands as a constant reminder to everyone else of what they can't quite participate in or benefit from. But then due to inevitable progress of time and the bravery of a small courageous few, this thing becomes a mirror, showing us that our country did not actually live up to its bragged about ideals.
But here the kids are today, Americans of all colors, sex, and backgrounds. They're here. Americans are here in front of all sorts of monuments and museums and milestones and stories. They're willing to learn, to reflect and keep improving our country for the good of ALL Americans. Guided of course by an educator of some sort (a book, a documentary, a teacher, a genuine politician, or hey, even a park service ranger!)
Most of the Americans (the kids in the photo if you haven't got the metaphor yet) are happy to be here at this place of progress. Happy to be here to learn about the past. Some seem really interested in the story, some seem like they were dragged to this location to learn and just aren't yet sure why they're here, some seem not as "woke" as others (literally), but they are all here. A couple even seem suspicious. And at least one seems very angry at having to be here to learn this history. (I'm sure he's a sweet kid, but really, I get these white kids and parents, angry they have to learn about the uncomfortable past). What's important on this day is that they are all HERE, and are willing to learn about this "moment" from all of our pasts...and for this time...we have hope that they will do better at moving towards America's ideals, rather than the ones before them that didn't want to see progress as inevitable. And we hope these kids....and these Americans...will do better THIS time.
If you want to skip all my blog posts and just see only the photos albums from the trip, here's the link to the full collection of albums.
Upon reflection of my Deep South travels, it fulfilled nearly all my goals, the biggest of which was to visit multiple locations where major milestones in our history of racial injustice took place. In 2018, the much anticipated Legacy Museum and lynching memorial opened in Montgomery, so that was a huge stop for me. The bulk of my 12 years teaching social studies has focused on US History post 1877 (that's the end of Reconstruction of the South if you aren't sure why the specific date). I love teaching up to events in 2008, which includes arguably, the most important bit of forward progress decades in our country. Lots of long awaited changes for so many groups that had been left out of America's original story of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." occurred, during the Progressive Era, The Twenties, and of course, the 1950's and 1960's. When I teach history, my focus and reason for educating, has always been what one quote I read in a museum says..."for those abandoned by the rule of law...we will remember." As a teacher of other subjects like Civics, Law and Justice and Government and Politics as well, that always hits home. As Justice Thurgood Marshall said, when the founding fathers talked about life, liberty and all that, "they did not have the majority of Americans in mind."
The biggest realization I learned over this last month is that America as a whole really doesn't get to see the full impact of race history in this country. I already sort of believed this anyway based on my experiences, but this trip REALLY hammered this home. How past (and current) racial injustice is woven into the political, economic, religious and social fabric of this country is still apparent. There was a moment when I was with my boyfriend in Birmingham, and we had been taking in the scope of the legacies of race oppression for days from multiple museums and civil rights sites in Alabama and how we saw it manifest in parts of the state all around us...and we thought, "how can any of this be fixed if people don't truly understand how all this happened?" It's a lot to think about fixing when most people (intentionally or not) don't even understand the basics of how government works. Or know more about our history of systemic racism beyond "there were enslaved people, now there aren't."
The number one most satisfying part of this trip was the visit the Legacy Museum and lynching memorial in Montgomery, Alabama with my boyfriend. I wish I could take students, family and friends on this leg of the trip. You can read more in that blog, but of all the locations I saw, this was one that I hope every single American can experience at some point. And nearly everyone that visits has a similar reaction. You can't move most directions in Alabama without tripping on a civil rights milestone, or some location where something awful happened. I know a few people told me "that's too depressing" when I told them of all the places I wanted to visit. I don't see it that way. It's a privilege to be able to chose to ignore the ugly parts of our history, and not everyone has that privilege. We all owe it to the oppressed to learn their history.
America isn't all a downer. There's so much positivity in the progress you can find out there as well and I saw so much of this in my travels. We saw parts of towns devastated economically from decades of racist political policies, but we also saw huge revivals of culture that were so hopeful. The economic divide, especially, in the Deep South (and Arkansas!) is stark, often shocking, but overall, there's tremendous progress when you compare it with the generations of oppression on display in museums in Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
The second best part of my travels (the nature part), I also discovered more extensively, this country has even more amazing geography and nature than I've seen to date. I was so happy to experience some of this with old Texas friends, and my advice for anyone wanting to see the beauty of the Ozarks (geography truly unlike anything you can see in most mountain ranges) or Eastern Tennessee (over 500 waterfalls!?) is to get 4 wheel drive or an RV...and DRIVE IT! The best parts of this country really can't be seen from a major city hotel or home basing it in one town. You need to camp, to move to experience the sights. And man, this country's MUSIC history! It's inescapable, especially down South. I came for Elvis, I stayed for the gospel and blues, let me tell ya! Take advantage of the music museums in Nashville and Memphis or anywhere you can find one. It ain't all just country and swing!
I hope you enjoy reading everything in as many blogs as you are willing, and enjoy some of what I saw through my photo albums, and I hope YOU can find your part of the United States you really want to visit and get outside (and inside)!
For navigation's sake, each blog post will have one or more links in pink to the photo albums for the places I visited. If you're the visual type, just check those out. I've titled as many photos as I can, but due to the massive amount of locations, I didn't get very detailed in the titles. In the blog posts, you might see hyperlinks in green to outside websites where you can learn more info if you please. I highly recommend you start AT THE BOTTOM post with my inspiration for this trip, then work your way back up, starting with the first location I visited. For whatever reason, my website host doesn't let me blog in reverse. But really, it's a journey that should be read from Leg 1 when we leave North Carolina. I captioned the few photos I added in the blog, but they don't link to anything. If you want the "full experience", make sure to go to the full photo albums linked in pink.