Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Intersection of Race and Region

标题：种族和地区的交集对阿巴拉契亚的普遍看法描绘了一个农村地区，居住着贫穷、“落后”、没有受过教育的白人。尽管黑人在阿巴拉契亚地区存在了200多年，但该地区的种族同质性和淡化种族差异的学术话语创造了一个阿巴拉契亚地区专注于忽视种族的贫穷(白人)问题的故事。通过对诺克斯维尔的定性案例研究，本文试图通过考虑学者们如何不仅通过白人的经历，而且通过对数量可观但几乎看不见的黑人的生活的考察，来研究、认识和思考该地区的种族问题，从而颠覆关于阿巴拉契亚的流行和学术观念。美国黑人身份研究压倒性地集中在大移民目的地，如费城，以及最近的南方城市，如亚特兰大。这项研究增加了社会学上的细微差别，并通过关注一个黑人身份被忽视而形成的地区，扩大了对黑人地区认同的理解。研究人员将整合和扩展理论上与阿巴拉契亚地区的区域化和跨部门性有关的黑人身份研究，以及阶级、性别和代际之间的差异。这项研究不仅向阿巴拉契亚黑人社区发出了声音，还提高了人们对可能影响整个阿巴拉契亚黑人社区的问题的认识。长期以来，一直有相当数量的黑人，特别是在阿巴拉契亚南部的城市地区，如田纳西州的诺克斯维尔。考虑到以诺克斯维尔为家的非裔美国人的数量以及该市对该地区非裔美国人的历史意义，诺克斯维尔是一个理想的城市，可以对阿巴拉契亚地区的非裔美国人的经历和身份认同进行案例研究。三个主要问题推动了这项研究。第一个研究问题(阿巴拉契亚地区黑人身份的维度是什么)是关于诺克斯维尔黑人日常生活和经历的。研究人员将在诺克斯维尔的特定空间中研究黑人身份是如何构建、维护和竞争的。第二个研究问题问的是其他身份，如阶级、性别和世代如何塑造黑人。这个问题涉及身份类别的交叉点，以及一个人的经历可能如何根据其身份的交叉点而不同。第三个问题是，导致黑人隐形的历史、结构、种族和文化习俗是什么？这个问题试图了解历史上组织诺克斯维尔黑人生活的结构因素，以及种族和种族主义如何总体上影响该地区的黑人。为了回答这些问题，本研究将采用质的研究方法和档案研究方法。这位研究人员将对诺克斯维尔不同阶层的非裔美国人进行大约50次半结构化采访，其中包括来自不同社会经济背景、居住社区和年龄范围的男性和女性。研究人员将使用有目的的滚雪球抽样，从诺克斯维尔、东诺克斯维尔、机械城和朗斯代尔三个历史上与非裔美国人有关的地理空间以及其他地区招募参与者。研究人员还将审阅报纸文章、对阿巴拉契亚社区的主要研究以及政府文件，以检查该地区阿巴拉契亚和黑人的文化、地理和社会叙事是如何在历史上构建的。

Title: The Intersection of Race and RegionPopular 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 discourse that downplay racial difference create a story of Appalachia focused on poor (White) problems that ignore race. Through a qualitative 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. US Black identity research has overwhelmingly focused on Great Migration destinations such as Philadelphia and, recently, Southern cities like Atlanta. This research adds sociological nuance and expands the understanding of Black regional identity by focusing on a region where Black identity is shaped by neglect. The researcher will integrate and expand upon Black identity research theoretically attached to regionalization and inter-sectionality in Appalachia and that class, gender and generation compound these distinctions. This research not only gives voice to a Black Appalachian community but it also raises awareness of the issues that may affect Black communities throughout Appalachia. There has long been a substantial number of Blacks particularly in urban areas in Southern Appalachia, such as Knoxville, Tennessee. Knoxville presents an ideal city to conduct a case study of African American experiences and identity in Appalachia given the number of African Americans who call Knoxville home and the historical significance of the city for African Americans in the region. Three primary questions drive this research. The first research question (what are the dimensions of Black identity in Appalachia) is interested in everyday Black life and experiences in Knoxville. The researcher will examine how Black identities are constructed, maintained, and contested in particular spaces in Knoxville. The second research question asks how other identities, such as class, gender, and generation shape Blackness. This question is concerned with the intersections of identity categories and how a person's experiences might differ depending on the intersections of their identity. The third question asks what are the historical, structural, racial and cultural practices that result in Black invisibility? This question seeks to understand the structuring factors that have organized Black lives in Knoxville historically, and how race and racism have impacted blacks in the region generally. To answer these question this research will employ qualitative and archival research methods. The researcher will conduct approximately 50 semi-structured interviews with a diverse cross-section of African Americans in Knoxville including men and women of different socio-economic backgrounds, neighborhoods of residence and age ranges. The researcher will use purposeful and snowball sampling to recruit participants of the three geographic spaces that have historically been associated with African Americans in Knoxville, East Knoxville, Mechanicsville and Lonsdale, as well as from other areas. The researcher will also review newspaper articles, major studies of Appalachia communities, and government documents to examine how cultural, geographical, and social narratives of Appalachia and Blacks in the region have been constructed historically.