In the News, Fall 2022

“In The News” is published quarterly and provides a sampling of stories, articles, or reviews that reference or relate to beliefs, myths, and narratives in Southern culture since 1970.

“Town’s Black Citizens Sue Police Department Over Mississippi ‘Martial Law’” from Newsweek (August 16, 2022)

“In the recording, first reported by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, [police officer] Sam Dobbins, who is white, also allegedly bragged about killing 13 people in the line of duty and used the n-word repeatedly, including to describe someone he says he shot 119 times.”

“This is what happens when a monster story emerges in your town: The world takes notice, people flood in and they wrest control of the narrative. Often, it becomes a punchline.”

“Remembering the Days- The Myth of Commodore Capstone” from the University of South Carolina (August 25, 2022)

“What building on the University of South Carolina campus was named for a Confederate navy commodore and commemorated on a picture postcard? It’s a trick question! Separating fact from fiction is the real story.”

“National media’s narrative on the Jackson water crisis breaks along ideological lines” from WLBT News (September 1, 2022)

“National media outlets are wading into Jackson’s water crisis, and exactly who is to blame depends on the outlets’ ideological leanings. Left-leaning media, for instance, say the problem is the result of Mississippi’s history of racism, coupled with a white, Republican-led state government that has refused to help a majority Black, Democrat-led city.”

“History, ‘Mythory,’ and Heart” from Daily Kos (September 21, 2022)

“Tulsa, Oklahoma, Wilmington, North Carolina, Colfax, Louisiana, Atlanta, Georgia, and Elaine, Arkansas are just a few cities with documented massacres of black Americans.”

“Alabama Sen. Tuberville equates descendants of enslaved people to criminals” from NPR (October 10, 2022)

“Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., compared descendants of enslaved people to criminals on Saturday at a rally for former President Donald Trump, drawing intense backlash for promoting a racist narrative.”

Originally published at http://modernsouthernfolklore.com on November 8, 2022.