Black and Yellow: Thoughts on Crossing a Different Color Line in the American Southeast

Author(s): Edward Gonzalez-Tennant

Year: 2014

Summary

This contribution questions how historical archaeology’s focus on ‘culturally bounded’ groups might restrict a fuller exploration of oppressive social practices such as slavery, racism, and inequality. The discussion explores the interconnected lives of African and Asian Americans in the Deep South during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While most Americans are aware of the African American experience in the region, dedicated studies of Chinese Americans in the southern states are rare. Even more scarce are studies examining the intersection of these groups through time. A mixed methods approach is necessary to uncover these complicated ‘ often hidden ‘ histories of culture contact and (ex)change. Theoretical insights from diaspora studies and critical race theory produce a politically-engaged case study drawing on the author’s preliminary work in Greenville, Mississippi.

Cite this Record

Black and Yellow: Thoughts on Crossing a Different Color Line in the American Southeast. Edward Gonzalez-Tennant. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. 2014 ( tDAR id: 437064)

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-52,02