Memorializing Race in the Deep South: The 'Good Darkie' Statue,Louisiana, USA

Abstract

The period between World War I and World War II saw the development of several memorials commemorating African Americans in the Southern USA. The 'Good Darkie' is unique amongst these in being a life-size bronze statue. It was erected in Natchitoches, northwestern Louisiana in 1927, where it remained in a prominent position in the centre of the town until it was taken down in 1969, ending up in the Louisiana State University Rural Life Museum where it is displayed as the statue of 'Uncle Jack'. The various meanings and values given to the statue over the last 80 years, from acceptable paternalism to its politicization in the 1960s, to the criticism currently levelled at its use make this an important case study in public commemoration. This paper explores the various meanings given to the statue by different social groups, which reveal how the concept of race, and solutions to the 'race problem' of the Southern USA have evolved over time.     

Race,Gender, Science and Citizenship

This paper argues that the history of embodiment of human racial and gendered differences must be seen as part of the history of liberal citizenship and its limits. The author suggests that a science of similarity and difference can never be a reliable guide to questions of rights. The consequences of this conclusion for our understanding of science and the gendered body are addressed in the second half of the paper, in an effort to clear the way for a more adequate and inclusionary model of citizenship and rights.     

Gender,Race, and Rumours: Re-examining the 1943 Race Riots

Focusing on three riots of the World War II era – those of Beaumont (Texas), Detroit, and New York's Harlem – this essay examines the rumours that sparked these disturbances to uncover the gendered ideologies that underlie racial violence. In these rumour narratives, women appear as either rape victims or tortured mothers, while men appear as either depraved rapists or noble protectors. The deployment of these images helped forge a defensive collective identity that facilitated the outbreak of violence. Because racial and gender ideologies were intimately linked, the author argues, race riots must be analysed through the lens of gender in order to be fully understood.