\nCynthia Tucker, editorial page editor of the AJC, speaks to a crowd at the Overby Center. UM photo by Kevin Bain.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
OXFORD, Miss. – While the South hasn’t completely forsaken
\nold prejudices, there are positive signs they’re becoming
\npart of a storied past.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThat’s the message Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
\nCynthia Tucker conveyed Thursday in her address at the
\nUniversity of Mississippi, kicking off the 30th-anniversary
\ncelebration of UM’s Center for the Study of Southern
\nCulture.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nTucker, editorial page editor at the Atlanta
\nJournal-Constitution, encouraged the South to open its arms
\nto its “new” neighbors in Mexico, as she reflected on
\nchanges in the South over the last three decades.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“I’ve been saddened by the hatred of immigration and
\ndisappointed that the South, having recently cast off Jim
\nCrow, would pick up new yet eerily similar prejudices,” she
\nsaid. “We should greet (our new neighbors) with fried
\nchicken and fried catfish and teach them how to properly
\nsweeten iced tea.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nSpeaking to a capacity crowd in the auditorium of the new
\nOverby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, Tucker
\nsaid she was delighted and honored to be on the Ole Miss
\ncampus for the first time and that she is a longtime fan of
\nthe center and its work.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nAfter reading from a November 2005 column she had written
\nabout Condoleeza Rice following the death of Rosa Parks,
\nTucker said, “That column captures the staggering changes
\nthat took place in the South in a relatively short time my
\nlifetime. It has not been a smooth and easy journey. I love
\nthe South, and I’ve left it only briefly, but my love is
\nneither irrational nor uncritical. I would never say the
\nSouth has completely forsaken old prejudices but mostly I
\nthink we’ve put that behind us, for good, I hope.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThe center began its work in November 1977. The gathering
\nthis weekend of alumni, students, faculty, staff and
\nfriends is to reflect on the center’s past, look at the
\npresent and plan for the future.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nTed Ownby, CSSC interim director and professor of history
\nand Southern studies, said he enjoyed the way Tucker moved
\nbetween her own columns and commentary, because it was an
\neffective way to think about what’s changing in the recent
\nSouth.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Two of her columns dealt with thinking historically, and
\nthat’s part of Southern studies, to think about the present
\nby thinking broadly about history,” Ownby said. “We do as
\ngood a job as we can in discussing race relations and look
\nat what doesn’t fit into conventional categories of black
\nand white. It was especially helpful that she connected
\nissues of immigration and ethnicity to the fairly recent
\npast of the South.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThe center supports and houses diverse projects such as
\nLiving Blues magazine, the Southern Foodways Alliance and
\ndocumentary studies.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nTucker’s syndicated columns appear in nearly 50 newspapers
\nacross the nation. She won the Pulitzer Prize for
\nCommentary earlier this year. She frequently appears on the
\n“Newshour with Jim Lehrer” and “CNN and Company.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nA native of Monroeville, Ala., Tucker graduated from Auburn
\nUniversity and went on to serve as a reporter covering
\nAfrica and Central America, as well as local governments,
\nnational politics, crime and education. She was a Neiman
\nFellow at Harvard University in 1998.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nFor more information, visit
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/south.<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor of the AJC, speaks to a crowd at the Overby Center. UM photo by Kevin Bain. OXFORD, Miss. – While the South hasn’t completely forsaken old prejudices, there are positive signs they’re becoming part of a storied past. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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