There is no denying that race is a critical issue in understanding
the South. However, this concluding volume of
The New
Encyclopedia of Southern Culture challenges previous
understandings, revealing the region's rich, ever-expanding
diversity and providing new explorations of race relations. In 36
thematic and 29 topical essays, contributors examine such subjects
as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Japanese American incarceration in
the South, relations between African Americans and Native
Americans, Chinese men adopting Mexican identities, Latino
religious practices, and Vietnamese life in the region. Together
the essays paint a nuanced portrait of how concepts of race in the
South have influenced its history, art, politics, and culture
beyond the familiar binary of black and white.