Author

William Adams

Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Academic Program

Political Science BA

Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

First Advisor

Robert Press, Ph.D.

Advisor Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Abstract

The Neshoba County Fair in Neshoba County, Mississippi, is a place of idiosyncrasy and incomparability. As of 2023, the Neshoba County Fair still existed as a place of explicit residential and social segregation. This project aimed to interview fairgoers at the 2023 Neshoba County Fair to unveil the truth about the Fair's continual racial exclusion. How has the Fair remained segregated? What makes racism at the Neshoba County Fair different from traditional racism? To answer these questions, anonymous interviewees at the Neshoba County Fair were asked a series of questions tailored to provide answers to those two research questions. As a result, the interviews provided unprecedented, unbiased responses about the Fair’s relationship with civil rights. The reactions were one-of-a-kind and did not directly represent any coined racial theories within political science. As a result, this paper coins the theory of “Neshobism,” which is categorized as unbeknownst racism because of evolutionary intergenerational prejudice. From there, this project investigates the characteristics of “Neshobism” and how it functions to safeguard tradition. “Neshobism” represents a case of unintentional racism, which this investigation emphasizes is more dangerous than traditional racism. Additionally, this project maintains that the Neshoba County Fair is a racial microcosm of many social and residential scenes across the country, and “Neshobism” serves as a direct example of how racism can evolve and persist over time. Nevertheless, this investigation aims to explain the relationship between intergenerational racism, tradition, and white spaces by explicitly focusing on the Neshoba County Fair.

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