OXFORD, Miss. – It’s an experience most Southerners who
have traveled beyond the South can relate to: When people
find out you’re from a Southern state like Mississippi,
they instantly develop an opinion about you – especially if
there’s even a hint of a Southern drawl in your voice.
“Some Northerners might think you’re slow, less educated or
rural,” said Charles Reagan Wilson, the inaugural Kelly
Gene Cook, Sr. Chair of History at the University of
Mississippi. “Others may think of Southern hospitality and
charm. But where did this concept of what it means to be
Southern come from? And is that concept more than an
idealized myth?”
Wilson will tackle these and other tough questions Tuesday
(April 8) during his inaugural lecture as the Cook Chair of
History. “The Southern Way of Life: The History of a
Concept” is slated for 7 p.m. in the Johnson Commons
Ballroom and is free to the public.
“This event isn’t just for students and faculty, it is for
anyone who is curious about what it means to be from the
South,” said Joseph Ward, chair of the Department of
History. “During his 27-year career at UM, Dr. Wilson has
been consistently productive and successful as a teacher,
scholar and administrator. We’re delighted to both honor
him and learn from him.”
Former director of the UM Center for the Study of Southern
Culture, Wilson said he has been studying the evolution of
the Southern sense of identity for more than 10 years.
“I’m interested broadly in how Southerners came to think
they’re Southerners,” he said. “Throughout Southern
history, you have a culture that was a biracial culture and
a biracial way of life. You have people from West Africa
and West Europe interacting on an uneven playing ground,
essentially creating a blend of western civilization and
Third World life.
“Only recently are we really beginning to understand that
story. It’s fascinating.”
“Charles Wilson may be the only scholar who could – or
would – take on a topic as large as Southern identity,”
said Ted Ownby, interim CSSC director. “His work is a way
both to ask who cares about Southern identity and how that
sense of identity has changed. He’s certainly the most
qualified person to address the question of Southern
culture as a whole.”
Wilson’s research uncovers many of the intriguing
complexities of Southern culture and identity that run the
gamut from religion and politics to music and food. For
starters, until the 1830s, white Southerners were morally
ambivalent about slavery and, ironically, Northern
influence helped forge the notion of white supremacy,
Wilson said.
“Before the 1830s, many Southerners thought of slavery as a
necessary evil,” he said. “But as Northern abolitionists
claimed moral superiority over the South, Southerners
responded by adopting a sense of Southern pride. They began
to romanticize the plantation and slavery. And of course,
the Civil War was a unifying event, and white Southerners
came out of it with a very race-conscious outlook.”
The dynamics between blacks and whites have been a driving
force in the evolution of Southern identity, whether in the
kitchen, the juke joint or the church, he said.
“Blacks and whites often cooked and ate the same greens,
cornbread and black-eyed peas, but socially they couldn’t
eat together, because it would have symbolized a sense of
equality,” Wilson said. “Jazz, gospel and blues were all
born out of the Southern experience. And even though whites
and blacks often sing the same songs from the same hymnals,
the worship experiences are very different, and, more often
than not, separate.”
Equally fascinating to Wilson is where Southern identity is
heading, particularly as Mexican immigrants find their way
into the workforce. Wilson recalls a parade of immigrants
around the Oxford Square during the Christmas holidays in
which the revelers were paying homage to Our Lady of
Guadalupe, a traditional religious custom in many Latin
cultures.
” Mexican immigrants are the new players,” Wilson said.
“They weren’t here for the civil rights movement, let alone
the Civil War, so what does a ‘Southern Way of Life’ mean
to them? My prediction is that when you start to notice the
blues and country music with a Latin flavor, that will be
the next stage of the evolution of Southern identity. It’s
really fascinating.”
As Cook Chair of History, Wilson is getting to do more
teaching. He is teaching a class on the history of religion
in the South. “I haven’t taught undergraduates in about 10
years,” he said. “I hope I’m not too rusty.”
A Tennessee native who grew up in El Paso, Texas, Wilson
envisions compiling his research on Southern identity into
a book. But like an onion, the topic seems to have layer
after layer after layer.
“On one hand, the South has been solidly Republican. On the
other hand, this is where Barack Obama wins primaries,” he
said. “In many ways, the South has been the most prosperous
part of the country for many years. And at the same time,
we still have rural poverty, underperforming schools and
the highest infant mortality rate.
“The complexities of the South are still here,” Wilson
said. “I started this project several years ago and I’m
still learning new things about it.”
For more information on Wilson’s lecture or for assistance
related to a disability, call the Department of History at
662-915-7148.