Alabama the ("Your word here")
Since I decided that my next project would be a place study on my Country South by storying my great-grandmother Jeffreys' life, I've been doing a lot of reading about Alabama, my state. One book, Dixie's Forgotten People, by Alabama native and Auburn professor (I can forgive him for that) Wayne Flint, is what I would call an objective account of Alabama's poor whites. He talks about both their rich culture and the racist thoughts and acts. I learned a lot from Flint's book--like my people were most likely southern Appalachian--a particular kind of "Southerner," having a whole unique heritage. I had always thought of Appalachian people as being from the mountains of West Virginia or East Tennessee, but these are my people. I am theirs. Another book I picked up was Alabama Getaway by Allen Tullos. He is an American Studies scholar who exhorts Alabama to distance itself from its "Heart of Dixie" brand name. For him, this monicker is code for nostal