Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi: The Twentieth Century

by Shana Walton (Editor), Barbara Carpenter (Editor)

Overview

Contributions by Linda Pierce Allen, Carl L. Bankston III, Barbara Carpenter, Milburn J. Crowe, Vy Thuc Dao, Bridget Anne Hayden, Joyce Marie Jackson, Emily Erwin Jones, Tom Mould, Frieda Quon, Celeste Ray, Stuart Rockoff, Devparna Roy, Aimée L. Schmidt, James Thomas, Shana Walton, Lola Williamson, and Amy L. Young

Throughout its history, Mississippi has seen a small, steady stream of immigrants, and those identities--sometimes submerged, sometimes hidden--have helped shape the state in important ways. Amid renewed interest in identity, the Mississippi Humanities Council has commissioned a companion volume to its earlier book that studied ethnicity in the state from the period 1500-1900. This new book, Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi: The Twentieth Century, offers stories of immigrants overcoming obstacles, immigrants newly arrived, and long-settled groups witnessing a revitalized claim to membership. The book examines twentieth-century immigration trends, explores the reemergence of ethnic identity, and undertakes case studies of current ethnic groups.

Some of the groups featured in the volume include Chinese, Latino, Lebanese, Jewish, Filipino, South Asian, and Vietnamese communities. The book also examines Biloxi as a city that has long attracted a diverse population and takes a look at the growth in identity affiliation among people of European descent. The book is funded in part by a "We the People" grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496843425
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	12/28/2022
Edition description:	Paperback
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Shana Walton is assistant professor of English at Nicholls State University. Formerly, she was director of the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi, program coordinator for the statewide Mississippi Oral History Project, and project director for the Mississippi Civil Rights Oral History Bibliography.


Barbara Carpenter is the director of the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Table of Contents

Foreword Barbara Carpenter vii

Introduction. Ethnicity in Mississippi: Stories Worth Telling Shana Walton 3

Section I Immigrants, Identity, and Sites of Connection

1 The International Immigrants of Mississippi: An Overview Carl L. Bankston III 15

2 European Mississippians Celeste Ray 32

3 African American Sacred and Secular Identities in Mississippi's Piney Woods Joyce Marie Jackson 74

4 The Story of Mound Bayou Amy L. Young Milburn J. Crowe 98

5 Down Around Biloxi: An Overview of Ethnic and Occupational Identity in a Coastal Town Aimee L. Schmidt 122

Section II Ethnicity in a Biracial Culture

6 Mississippi Delta Chinese Emily Erwin Jones Frieda Quon 145

7 Mississippi Mahjar: The Lebanese Immigration Experience in the Delta James Thomas 172

8 Chai Cotton: Jewish Life in Mississippi Stuart Rockoff 193

9 "Chahta Siyah Ókih": Ethnicity in the Oral Tradition of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Tom Mould 219

Section III Local Changes, Global Forces

10 The Vietnamese in Mississippi Vy Thuc Dao 263

11 The Changing Face of Hindu Identity in Jackson, Mississippi Devparna Roy Lola Williamson 284

12 Filipinas in the Deep South: Reading Domestic Oral Narratives as Sites of Politicization andtornmunity Building Linda Pierce Allen 309

13 The Genesis of a New Ethnic Group?: The Meanings of Latino/Hispanic Identity in South Mississippi Bridget Anne Hayden 333

Postscript. Celebrating Heritage and Recognizing Complexity and Change in Mississippi Culture Shana Walton 353

Contributors 367

Index 371

Editorial Reviews

"Shana Walton has brought together a remarkable set of essays analyzing the ethnic heritage of Mississippi, a state with one of the smallest foreign-born populations in the nation. Does that mean that ethnicity is not important? This volume demonstrates that it is. Race has been the lens through which most scholars have viewed the state's history and culture, for quite legitimate reasons, but that focus should not ignore the state's fascinating ethnic groups whose lives and experiences complicate and enrich our understanding of the state's cultural heritage. This remarkable collection takes us from the state's earliest settlers—Native Americans—to more recent immigrant groups like Hindus and Latinos, and explores how immigration has changed over time. This is pioneering work, important to both scholars and the general public, and readers will take away a new understanding of the state's changing contemporary culture and the ways new immigrant groups have found a place in the Magnolia State."



—Randy J. Sparks




"Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi: The Twentieth Century is a landmark study that traces the diverse ethnic worlds that have defined Mississippi from the colonial period to the present. Shana Walton views the state as a meeting ground for these cultures, and her book introduces us first to French, Spanish, English, German, Native American, and African families who were 'colonizers,' then to the contemporary world of Croatian, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Jewish, Filipina, Latino, and Hindu families. This book carries us beyond the popular view of Mississippi as a world solely defined by black and white people by revealing in exquisite detail the wonderful mix of people who call the state 'home.'"



—William R. Ferris

From the Publisher