The New South Creed: A Study in Southern Mythmaking

The New South Creed: A Study in Southern Mythmaking

Paul Gaston, Robert J. Norrell (Introduction by), Paul Gaston (Afterword by)
$24.95
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Publication Date: June 1st, 2011
Publisher:
NewSouth Books
ISBN:
9781603061438
Pages:
312
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Description

First published in 1970, The New South Creed has lost none of its usefulness to anyone examining the dream of a "New South"--prosperous, powerful, racially harmonious--that developed in the three decades after the Civil War, and the transformation of that dream into widely accepted myths, shielding and perpetuating a conservative, racist society. Many young moderates of the period created a philosophy designed to enrich the region--attempting to both restore the power and prestige and to lay the race question to rest. In spite of these men and their efforts, their dream of a New South joined the Antebellum illusion as a genuine social myth, with a controlling power over the way in which their followers, in both North and South, perceived reality.

About the Author

PAUL M. GASTON (1928-2019) was born and reared in Fairhope, Alabama, about which he has written two books. He is also the author of The New South Creed, winner of the Lillian Smith Award for distinguished writing about the South. He is a past president of the Southern Regional Council and has been a frequent visitor in South Africa, both before and after the fall of apartheid. He has received numerous honors for both his professional work and civil rights leadership, including the outstanding professor award from the Commonwealth of Virginia; bridge builder recognition from the city of Charlottesville; legendary civil rights activist from the NAACP; and community leader, from his alma mater, Swarthmore College.