Student Reflections

“All in all, this class has made me unapologetically black and I am forever thankful.”

“When I think of the South, though I have only ever lived here, I think about white women who get to be Southern Belles, who live in this big plantation houses, and white men in cowboy hats who get to make the law of the land, I never once, until this semester thought that I too am southern history.”

“If there was one thing this class has taught me is that slavery in the South never went away. It just transformed over time.”

“In writing Richard Burton into history, I was able to write myself into history.”

"With further research I found the exact location where Geoge Fuller was lynched. I traveled to that location and it was a feeling that I will never forget. It was a mix of emotions. I felt anger, depression, and hopelessness all at one time. I could picture the scene of George Fuller’s lynching in my mind. To this day it is a feeling I will never forget.”

“Researching Johnston was an emotional experience for me, but most of all it made me angry, angry at society that no only brutally killed him but also ensured that he was forgotten.”

“I would say because no one else is, because our country has a history of ignoring the massive history of racial violence for people of color, or maybe because the truth should be preserved just as much as glorification as half-truths are. Or maybe I would simply just say because I know who James Powell, Abe Seddon, and William George are, and sadly you do not.”