The Old South: Stuck In Its Old Ways (Definition Essay) PDF

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The essay discusses the definition of the New South, which correlates with the American Southern States. In the essay, I talk about how renaming the South as "The New South" does not take away the prejudice, racism, and negative connotations that have already existed. The essay correlates with the b...

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English Writing 302 15 July 2018 The Old South: Stuck In Its Old Ways In 1874, newspaper editor Henry W. Grady composed the term the “New South” (Recchiuti). The New South is the southern United States from 1874, after the American Civil War, until present day. After the Civil War, the definition of the New South was originally an escape from the past and became a road to everything bright that the future held. Henry W. Grady’s definition of the New South formerly meant dreams of financial stability, reconstruction, diversity, and millions of acres supplied for farming, but now poverty and racism is among tons of other issues that have brought down the south. The New South’s definition consists of negative connotations regarding slavery, stereotypes, racism, and economic hardships because of high rates of crime and imprisonment in the southern United States, poverty, police brutality, and misogyny. While one might believe that the birth of jazz and blues was a positive outcome from the New South, women are often ignored and underrepresented in the south. Women living in the south constantly struggle for their voices to be heard. It is quite obvious that women living in the south are more susceptible to domestic violence, misogyny, and wage gaps. 53% of homicides of women in the New South are committed by men using guns. African-American women are two and a half times more likely to be murdered by a man, whereas caucasian women are not (“The Status of Women in the South”). Women living in the south do not have the equal opportunities that women may have in other states such as California. Misogyny and wage gaps in the workplace are a common occurrence in the south where most male counterparts are still stuck in the past believing that women are strictly prohibited to the kitchen and cleaning the house.

According to “The Status of Women in the South,” women in every southern state who work full time jobs year round earn less than their male counterpart. When the New South rose in 1874, women and African-American men were not allowed to vote. No matter what one might believe, it is a proven fact that racism is prevalent in the New South. Despite the desegregation laws passed in the southern United States, schools were still segregated for years after. Slaves once defined the power and wealth of the southern United States (“The New South and the Problem of Race”). Once nearly four million slaves were freed, the New South’s wealth declined and the slaves did not get the justice that they deserved. Even after the slaves were freed, there was still an alternative to slavery where slavery was legal if it happened to be a punishment for any crime (Taparata). The Ku Klux Klan was the one of the first terrorist organizations that originated in the New South. Their plans were simple: the Ku Klux Klan would control the south economically, terrorize, and murder until they gained economic power and erased all African-Americans as a whole. More than five hundred African-Americans were killed by Mississippi lynch mobs from 1880 to 1930 (“The New South and the Problem of Race”). Millions of innocent African-American men and women were murdered by racist mobs and terrorist organizations in the New South. The New South was born in order to rebrand the south, but this did not change the fact that racism was still hiding in plain sight. Imprisonment rates are at an awfully high rate in the southern United States. According to Jess Mawhirt, it is estimated that African-American males are 28.5% more likely to go to prison at least once in their lives than a caucasian male. There is a correlation between imprisonment and poverty stricken lifestyles. Obtaining a job is incredibly difficult if you have a criminal record. Those who have been incarcerated struggle with life on the outside and providing for their families, which means they usually go back to prison. When a person is uneducated, has a

criminal record, and is not making any money to provide for their family, they will most likely turn to crime and theft, and the cycle repeats. Being in prison changes a person’s mentality. Incarceration should not be at the top of our list, but rather be made into a low priority where instead a different solution should be presented. The New South has not lived up to its standards by putting incarcerating millions. The New South’s definition had promised southerners another chance at life. The New South was supposed to bring southerners out of poverty, but it did not. Farmers often faced debt peonage. Debt peonage is when farmers realized that they money being made during the farming season was not nearly enough to cover the cost of living and loans, therefore pushing them further into debt than before (Recchiuti). People might disagree because they might believe that there are no longer any economic hardships because of all of the fields and crops that farmers can take advantage of. Typically, there are tons of job opportunities in the New South that southerners do not take advantage of. Southerners regularly face the stereotype that they are not smart because they lack college or high school education. As stated by Jess Mawhirt, one year of education equals a 17.89% increase in a person’s income. Uneducated people often work low paying jobs that keep them and their family stuck in impoverished lifestyles. Poverty can be overcome, but the New South brought all southerners down a path that only damaged the economic condition of the southern United States. Police brutality in the southern United States is very common particularly against African-American males. The New South is not the paradise that many describe it to be. According to Evan Taparata, the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana has a large history of violence and racism towards African-American males. Taparata describes some of these instances where police officers use excessive force against Black people. For example, in 2014

an officer from Baton Rouge resigned from his position due to the nature of his racist text messages. Ten African-American males in Baton Rouge were either killed or injured by police officers from 2013 to 2016 (Taparata). More recently, in 2016 Alton Sterling was murdered by two police officers while held in their captivity. The New South is an unsafe place for everybody, but more specifically African-Americans. We can no longer ignore the facts that AfricanAmericans are unsafe in their own homes in the southern United States. Misogyny, poverty, and police brutality are among the hundreds of issues that are holding southerners back, if not making matters worse than they used to be back in the day. Henry Grady’s idea of the New South was meant to be a period of redefinition and reconstruction. Henry W. Grady once thought that his idea of the New South would make southerners forget about the negative experiences from the past and focus on the New South’s future. With enslavement, poverty, and police brutality, we now see the truth: the New South was built on the backs of abused, enslaved African-American men and women. The New South is merely a false hope for southerners. The New South currently deals with racism, poverty, economic hardships, and misogyny in off putting ways to where the issues do not get resolved. In order to overcome the struggles and stereotypes that the New South receives, southerners must power through and make changes to their government, police departments, and enforce stricter salaries that do not contain wage gaps between men and women.

Works Cited Mawhirt, Jess. “Segregation and Incarceration: How Life in the Ghetto Leads to Life in Prisons for Young Black Men.” Colgate Academic Review. 20 July 2012. Recchiuti, John Louis. “The New South.” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/south-after-civil-war/a/thenew-south. Taparata, Evan. “Slavery’s Long Shadow Looms Over the Deaths of Victims of Police Violence.” PRI.org. https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-13/slavery-s-long-shadow-looms-over-deaths-victim s-police-violence. “The New South and the Problem of Race.” Lumen Learning, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ushistory2ay/chapter/the-new-south-and-the-problemof-race-2/ “The Status of Women in the South.” Status of Women Data, http://statusofwomendata.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Executive-Summary.pdf....