Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Black Knoxville: At The Intersection of Race and Region
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Popular perceptions of Appalachia depict a rural region populated by poor, “backward,” uneducated whites. Despite a more than two-hundred-year black presence in Appalachia, the perceived racial homogeneity of the region and the scholarly discourses that downplay racial difference (c.f., Coleman 2001) create a story of Appalachia focused on poor (white) problems that ignore race. Although Appalachia’s racial makeup is different from the rest of the South, the region has a history of slavery, and African Americans have shaped the culture of Appalachia in important and often unrecognized ways, especially in Southern Appalachia and urban areas. Through an ethnographic case study of Knoxville, this dissertation seeks to disrupt popular and scholarly conceptions of Appalachia by considering how scholars might research, recognize and think about race in the region not simply through the experiences of whites, but through an examination of the lives of the sizable but almost invisible population of blacks. Using qualitative data, the researcher will examine how the invisibility of blacks in popular and scholarly conceptions of Appalachia and the framing of Appalachia as a white space shapes Appalachian black social, political, economic and cultural experiences and identity in the region. Focusing on black identity formation, this dissertation will focus on how place intersects with race, class, gender and generation in shaping black experiences and identity in Appalachia. Three primary questions drive this research: 1) What are the contours of black identity in Appalachia? 2) How do other identities, such as class, gender, and generation shape blackness? 3) What are the historical, structural, racial and cultural practices that result in black Knoxvillian invisibility and solidify and maintain Knoxville’s whiteness? Data will derive from two primary sources: approximately 50 in-depth interviews with long-term black residents of Knoxville and direct observation of Knoxville’s black cultural centers.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Enkeshi Thom is a 4th year PhD. Student in the department of Sociology at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville. My research areas include, race and ethnic studies, political economy and environmental sociology.
Black Knoxville: At The Intersection of Race and Region
Popular perceptions of Appalachia depict a rural region populated by poor, “backward,” uneducated whites. Despite a more than two-hundred-year black presence in Appalachia, the perceived racial homogeneity of the region and the scholarly discourses that downplay racial difference (c.f., Coleman 2001) create a story of Appalachia focused on poor (white) problems that ignore race. Although Appalachia’s racial makeup is different from the rest of the South, the region has a history of slavery, and African Americans have shaped the culture of Appalachia in important and often unrecognized ways, especially in Southern Appalachia and urban areas. Through an ethnographic case study of Knoxville, this dissertation seeks to disrupt popular and scholarly conceptions of Appalachia by considering how scholars might research, recognize and think about race in the region not simply through the experiences of whites, but through an examination of the lives of the sizable but almost invisible population of blacks. Using qualitative data, the researcher will examine how the invisibility of blacks in popular and scholarly conceptions of Appalachia and the framing of Appalachia as a white space shapes Appalachian black social, political, economic and cultural experiences and identity in the region. Focusing on black identity formation, this dissertation will focus on how place intersects with race, class, gender and generation in shaping black experiences and identity in Appalachia. Three primary questions drive this research: 1) What are the contours of black identity in Appalachia? 2) How do other identities, such as class, gender, and generation shape blackness? 3) What are the historical, structural, racial and cultural practices that result in black Knoxvillian invisibility and solidify and maintain Knoxville’s whiteness? Data will derive from two primary sources: approximately 50 in-depth interviews with long-term black residents of Knoxville and direct observation of Knoxville’s black cultural centers.
