David Goldfield's book “Southern Histories: Public, Personal, and Sacred” takes a new look at the history of the South and how it was actively affecting the region today. Goldfield explores the Old South nature of intolerance, the portraying of white men as honorable and the vilification of black Americans and women. He also comments on the role of religion and how it was used in the marginalization of the region.
The main argument of the book is that white people use the history of the South to give privilege to themselves and ignore the role of black Americans. He argues that the real global influence of white men created “a racist new south.” The author describes how the South took the myth of the lost cause and converted it into a reality. The myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy describes the heroics of a Confederate cause against all the odds despite the defeat 1 . The myth was accepted in the South because it endorsed the American Civil War as an honorable struggle while minimizing the role of slavery.
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The books’ main subject is how the norms of the Old South which were discriminatory are being challenged by both black and white men who have been exposed to the new world. The writer notes that the dogma of the the Old South and Lost Cause was often criticized in the past, but it was not until after World War II that it came under serious scrutiny 2 . Those who had been in the war came back and challenged the laws in courts, schools and other public places. There emerged civil rights groups which questioned the fairness and logic of segregation rules in the region. Educated men like John Hope Franklin, Kenneth M. Stampp and C. Vann Woodward probed the thinking basis of the segregation laws. Consequently, many blacks and white women who were initially considered to be invisible joined the struggle against segregation.
Additionally, Goldfield explores how religion, more specifically Christianity, was used to create and cement the laws in post-Civil War South. The struggle for a lost cause was compared to how God punished his beloved people in the Old Testament when they strayed. The white south was described as a society that had no lenience to reformers or to those who questioned them. This Christian community also faced opposition and rulings against them in the Supreme Court critically exposed them. This forced them to go on the defensive and change the narrative by appealing to Christians to shun abortions, feminism, pornography and homosexuality. They wanted an education system centered on the biblical teachings to be brought back in schools 3 .
Most importantly, the book’s author convincingly puts across his argument by chronologically citing the events of how the white men supremacist South was successfully challenged. He writes about recently published books, James Everett Kibler's “Our Fathers' Fields: A Southern Story” (1998), and Charles Adams's “When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession” (2000) 4 . The texts illustrate the liveliness of the identity myth. The author’s opinions and arguments obviously contradict other works which argue that the south is right in preserving its values.
To conclude with, Goldfield writes that “without a progressive religion, there will be no progressive history for the South to call its own And its talented people will not thrive in a context of orthodox” 5 . This book paints a clear picture of the misguided reasons for poor treatment of black people in the South. It is clear that the South is rapidly changing and those who do not want to leave its discriminatory view of history will be left behind.
Bibliography
Goldfield, David R. Southern histories: public, personal, and sacred . Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2003.
