I Still Remember America: Senior African-Americans Talk About Segregation
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2008
Department
Anthropology and Sociology
Abstract
This paper identifies the survival and coping strategies senior African Americans adopted during segregation in the southern USA. Describing how they maintained positive outlooks on life, our respondents discussed family unity, community strength, the contestation of African American inferiority, religious faith, fighting physical aggression, and downplaying the impact of segregation. They consistently mentioned differential treatment, violence, and their inability to access most public spaces. Respondents depicted segregation as a group, rather than an individual, experience. The findings reveal the significance of lived experience and collective memory in processes of identity formation for African Americans, and they have implications for contemporary race relations in the USA.
Publication Title
Journal of African American Studies
Volume
12
Issue
3
First Page
229
Last Page
242
Recommended Citation
Liberato, A. S.,
Fennell, D.,
Jeffries, W. L.
(2008). I Still Remember America: Senior African-Americans Talk About Segregation. Journal of African American Studies, 12(3), 229-242.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15383