BLST 088. (Re)Visiting the Black South

(Cross listed as SOCI 088)
56% of the US Black population lives in the South (close to 17% in the Northeast and Midwest and close to 10% in the West). In this course, we will explore why a majority of Black Americans live in the U.S. South and how this shapes Black life today. We will examine the social, political, and economic forces that produced this regional concentration, paying close attention to migration, labor, and urban development. We will engage the neglected histories of Black Southern life worlds, focusing on how Black communities create meaning, build rich cultures, and generate powerful intellectual traditions. We will also analyze how federal, state and local policies-along with resistance and social movements-have structured everyday life for Black residents in Southern cities. By the end of the course, students will be able to connect historical processes to contemporary Black Southern experiences and debates about the politics of memory, racial justice, liberation, belonging, and place.
Social Sciences.
1 credit.
Spring 2027. Johnson.
Catalog chapter: Black Studies.
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/black-studies

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