Questions the way we understand the idea of community through an
investigation of the term "historically black" In Historically
Black, Mieka Brand Polanco examines the concept of community in the
United States: how communities are experienced and understood, the
complex relationship between human beings and their social and
physical landscapes-and how the term "community" is sometimes
conjured to feign a cohesiveness that may not actually exist.
Drawing on ethnographic and historical materials from Union,
Virginia, Historically Black offers a nuanced and sensitive
portrait of a federally recognized Historic District under the
category "Ethnic Heritage-Black." Since Union has been home to a
racially mixed population since at least the late 19th century,
calling it "historically black" poses some curious existential
questions to the black residents who currently live there. Union's
identity as a "historically black community" encourages a
perception of the town as a monochromatic and monohistoric
landscape, effectively erasing both old-timer white residents and
newcomer black residents while allowing newer white residents to
take on a proud role as preservers of history. Gestures to
"community" gloss an oversimplified perspective of race, history
and space that conceals much of the richness (and contention) of
lived reality in Union, as well as in the larger United States.
They allow Americans to avoid important conversations about the
complex and unfolding nature by which groups of people and
social/physical landscapes are conceptualized as a single unified
whole. This multi-layered, multi-textured ethnography explores a
key concept, inviting public conversation about the dynamic ways in
which race, space, and history inform our experiences and
understanding of community.
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